Railgun
by Saber Knight
Summary: Due to a strange incident, Misaka and her friends find themselves in a totally different world where Humanity is struggling against extinction by a coalition of alien races known as the 'Covenant'. As they search for a way back to their own world, they are forced to fight for their very own survival. The Battle of Ballast has just begun.
1. A New City

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun (and have not watched the second season - waiting for dub), and I have not watched A Certain Magical Index (I also have not read any of either) or Halo.**

**A/N: Advice on keeping characters in character is appreciated.**

* * *

**Unknown Location**

"Ouch..." Misaka muttered as she stood up, rubbing the spot on her back where she had fallen down on.

"Onee-sama!" Shirai exclaimed from where she was on her back with her legs up a wall, looking upside down at Misaka right before she teleported in front of her. "I told you not to use your power; we were right next to a power plant!"

"It's not my fault!" Misaka shot back at Shirai. "He had a gun!"

Several feet away from the two girls, Saten helped Uiharu up as Shirai went on with berating Misaka about how she shouldn't get herself involved with Judgment-work. "Uiharu, are you alright?" Saten asked her friend as she dusted the girl's left sleeve off.

"I'm alright, Saten." Uiharu told her, giving the taller girl a smile before taking a look around. "What happened?"  
"Yeah," Saten began as she bent down and picked up her baseball bat, "weren't we chasing a group of thugs who stole some kind of device?"

Instead of getting an answer, they both sweat-dropped when they saw that Misaka and Shirai were too busy arguing to pay any attention to anyone besides themselves. Saten and Uiharu shared a small look, both scratching their cheek a little and giving off slight smiles at their friends' bickering.

"And now look at what you've done; the entire city is probably having a blackout right now!" Shirai gave off an exasperated sigh, turning her back on Misaka who looked away from the redhead and down the alley. "Onee-sama, you should know by now that I don't want you to get involved in my work; I know you mean well, but this is just too dangerous and I would be-"

"Where are we?" Misaka suddenly asked, completely ignoring Shirai.  
"This doesn't appear to be District 17..." Was Uiharu's only answer.

The sky was dark, yet light enough for them to see comfortably; and by that light, it appeared that they were in a small alleyway between two buildings, one of which appeared to be crumbling around a large hole in it. The air was a bit warm despite the cool look to the sky, and in the silence the girls could vaguely make out what sounded like spontaneous bits of...

"Is that... gunfire?" Misaka asked as she walked out of the alley, looking down both sides of the street and only catching signs of abandoned cars and buildings. The sight was strange; car doors hung open and cars sat in the middle of the street, as if everyone had gotten out in a hurry. The cars themselves didn't even look like the ones from Academy City, which made her even more confused. "I... don't think we're in Academy City..."

"What?" Shirai asked, glancing back at Misaka. "That's impossible; we should still be in Academy City."  
"Kuroko, just look." The brunette said, beckoning her friend over to her.

Shirai sighed, and, with crossed arms, walked up to Misaka's side. She looked up the street, catching sight of the many abandoned cars littering the street with open doors. Her eyes widened, her mouth hanging open as she quickly looked down and back up the street, seeing the same thing both ways. "Onee-sama's right, this doesn't look anything like Academy City!"

"What? No way!" Saten exclaimed, rushing out pass the two girls and stopping a couple of feet away from them. After taking looking around in a circle, she turned towards Uiharu. "Uiharu, take a look at this! We're in a totally different place!" Uiharu blinked, looking at Misaka and Shirai before walking up to them, her eyes widening when she saw the same thing they did.

"They're all... abandoned." Uiharu voiced, her mind racing with thoughts of why so many cars would just be sitting everywhere and everyway possible in the road with no regards to other traffic. The only thing she could think of that would have caused something like this was a mass evacuation of some kind, one that had to get people out as soon as possible. "It seems like everyone evacuated."

Misaka blinked, a little confused with Uiharu's statement. "Evacuated? For what reason?"  
Uiharu turned back to her friends. "Well, there could have been a chemical spill, a fire, or..."  
"Or what?" Saten asked, watching Uiharu.

Before the girl could answer, a distant explosion echoed throughout the city, causing all four girls to snap their heads toward the direction it had come from. Misaka realized what else there could have been and voiced it out loud for Uiharu. "Or a bombing." She said, remembering the Level-Upper incident.

"It sounds more like a... firefight." Shirai added right after another spout of barely audible gunfire came from the same direction of the explosion.

"A firefight?" Saten asked, looking up into the sky as she thought it over. However, she wasn't able to think of anything as soon as she spotted something that looked to be getting bigger and bigger. "H-hey, guys..." She began, taking a step back, "wh-what's that?" She asked, pointing up at the object. "It's heading straights towards us!"

Shirai quickly looked up and caught sight of the oncoming air vehicle, her Judgment training immediately kicking in. "Everyone, back into the alley and duck!" She shouted, Uiharu quickly taking Saten's hand and leading the girl down onto the ground in the middle of the alley. Shirai was about to join them when she saw that Misaka was still standing at the edge of the alley. "Onee-sama!" She called out, grabbing the brunette's arm and pulling her down onto the ground.

Misaka cried out as her back hit the ground for the second time that day; but the discomfort was completely forgotten when she saw something fly by the alley and down the street, flames protruding from what appeared to be a wing. As it passed by, Misaka could feet the heat of the flames against her skin, prickling her nerves. Only moments later, the sound of a large crash rippled throughout the area, making the ground vibrate underneath the girls and sending part of a damaged building's roof caving in.

"Onee-sama, are you alright?" Shirai asked from where she was positioned right above Misaka.  
"Kuroko, I think that was some kind of aircraft..." Misaka muttered, ignoring how close the redhead's face was to her own.  
The girl blinked. "An aircraft?"

Both of their eyes widened when they reached the same realization. "There might have been someone in it!" The girls shouted in unison, climbing onto their feet and starting to head out of the alley. "Uiharu!" Shirai called out, looking back over her shoulder. "We need to check for survivors!"

"Right!" The girl exclaimed, quickly following Shirai with Saten tailing behind.

All four of the girls turned the corner, their rapid footsteps sounding out loudly as Misaka took the front a few meters ahead, leading the way to the downed aircraft which was far down the street, the back of it protruding from a corner. Just as she approached another alley down the street, _something _suddenly started walking out of it. She cried out, stopping so quickly that she almost fell back down onto the ground.

Her friends behind her cried out also as all three of them stopped almost as quickly as Misaka, Uiharu actually falling down onto the ground with how quickly she had stopped.

The _creature _was at least eight feet tall, easily towering over Misaka. It was covered in some sort of armor, and appeared to be reptilian in nature. It had four mandibles, two on each side of its face, along with four-digit hands with two opposable thumbs on each one. It stood on legs that looked to have backwards-bending knees and it had _hooves _for feet. All in all, it looked like some kind of alien or monster! And the way it was looking down on her with its yellow eyes made Misaka all the more intimidated.

"H-hi there..." She muttered, taking a step back; the color draining from her face when she saw the creature 'smile'. As it started towards her, she took another step back, getting more scared and freaked out the closer it came. The creature's hand picked an object off of its thigh armor, it giving it a flick and activating it. What appeared to be blue energy appeared on either side of, what Misaka could only guess was, a 'hilt', forming into two blades that came together like a prong. Like a searing hot prong.

"Onee-sama! Look out!" Shirai cried out just as the creature lunged forward.

Misaka barely dodged the downward swing, her eyes wide with fright and surprise with how it was so suddenly attacking her. She didn't know what this thing was, but it looked like it was trying to kill her! The creature didn't stop, quickly stepping forward and taking a slash at her. She managed to duck under the sword and roll forward, jumping back up onto her feet a few feet away from it. "Why are you doing this!?" She cried out, not yet wanting to resort to violence though electricity was started to spark down her arm.

The creature looked at her, its entire body facing her as it continued to smile. _**"Your kind shall perish, human!"**_It said in a deep voice, Misaka recognizing the words as English and understanding them.

"Wh-what?" Her kind would perish? What's it going on about; why does it want to kill her? No, rather, why does it want to kill her species? Is it some kind of alien from some cheesy alien invasion movie!?

It stopped smiling, looking at her with a glare as it started forward. _**"I shall waste no more of my breath; your time has come."**_

Misaka narrowed her eyes, realizing that there was no way she could talk the creature out of this. "I don't think so." She told it as it raised its sword for another strike. Electricity gathered around her, flowing down her limbs and centering in a sphere in front of her. The creature paused with bewilderment, but Misaka didn't stop. She let her power loose, intending to shock the creature until it passed out.

The lightning slammed against the Elite's energy shield, his eyes wide as he watched his shields charge and keep on going until suddenly, without warning, his shield unit burst from the overwhelming power. Pain shot into his back, the electricity washing over his body and charring his armor; his HUD going haywire as it coursed through him, his energy sword short-circuiting and exploding in his hand, forcing him to roar out in pain.

With no clue as to what this human was doing to him, he snaked his left hand all the way down to one of his two plasma grenades; he wasn't going to allow such unholy creatures the honor of defeating him or taking him prisoner. So, with that, he managed to activate one of the grenades right before he lost consciousness; his body falling down to the ground.

"There..." Misaka said as she looked at the unconscious alien, wondering if she had gone a little too overboard with having seen the alien's sword explode right after something on its back had. But it was the alien's fault, it had tried to kill her! Just as she thought that, she caught sight of a glowing blue ball laying in its left hand. "What's-"

"Onee-sama!" Shirai yelled out, appearing right behind Misaka and teleporting them both away. While she had been watching the brunette electrocuting the alien, she had caught sight of its hand activating that blue ball which hadn't been formerly glowing. Guessing that it could only be a grenade, the redhead had reacted quickly.

Sure enough, as soon as she and Misaka arrived at the car Uiharu and Saten were hiding behind, the ball exploded in a fiery hot flash of plasma, sending a wave of heat that washed over the entire area. When the girls looked back after turning their heads away from the flash, they saw that the entire area around the grenade was charred black and melting in some places.

"What... what was that?" Misaka muttered, her eyes wide as she looked upon the smoldering corpse of the alien.  
"It seems to have been a grenade of some kind." Shirai answered her.  
"A grenade...?"  
"That's right, onee-sama."

"But why... why would it...?" She looked away from the corpse, trying to get the image out of her mind. The fetus-monster thing during the Level-Upper incident had been one thing to kill; but this creature - this _alien _- had been an actual, living being. It had _spoke _to her, it had had intelligence; and now, it was just a burning body. But, no, it had tried to _kill _her; and she wasn't the one who killed it, it killed itself.

Saten looked over at Misaka, catching the somber expression in her eyes. "Misaka, you didn't do anything wrong," She began, getting the brunette's attention onto her, "you protected us." Saten finished, smiling a big smile.

Uiharu gave a quick nod in agreement. "Saten's right! It was the one who attacked us; we didn't provoke it!"

Misaka looked at them for a couple of moments before smiling a soft smile. "Yeah... you're right." She said, even though she still felt like there was something that she could have done to prevent the alien's death.

Shirai could guess as to what Misaka was thinking, but she couldn't think of how to consul the brunette. So, she decided to try and get her mind onto something else. "We can't just stand around and talk; we have to see if anyone survived that crash!"

Uiharu nodded her agreement, looking back over at the grenade's effects before speaking. "That grenade might have left some radiation, so we should head around it just to be safe."

"Right." Misaka said, getting her mind back onto the matter at hand as she looked around for a side route. "There, let's try going that way." She said, pointing to a nearby alley. "I'll take the lead in case we come across anymore of those... _things_."

"Me too!" Shirai exclaimed, Misaka looking back at her for a moment before smiling.  
"I'm counting on you, Kuroko."  
"Yes, onee-sama!"

"Let's go!" With that, the four girls continued to run, heading towards the crash site. They didn't yet realize that they had landed into the middle of a gruesome war, but it was only a matter of time...


	2. The Crash Site

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun or Halo.**

**A/N: Ballast is an actual UNSC planet, so look it up if you want to.**

* * *

**Colony World of Ballast**

_"I've lost contact with Delta-287! I repeat, contact with Pelican Dropship Delta-287 has been lost!"  
"They were carrying our reinforcements, Ops!" "  
I know, 2nd Platoon, but there are no other squads available to assist. You'll have to hold out for as long as you can; we can _not _allow the Covenant any further into the city!"  
"Hold out!? I just lost another man down her- Hunters! We need help ASAP!"  
"Lieutenant, jus-"_

_"This is Lieutenant Saionji of the 105th Shock Troops Division, I am on my way."  
"ODST...?"  
"Affirmative, lieutenant."  
"...Copy that. Ops, we'll hold."_

* * *

**Crash Site**

Uiharu's eyes went wide, nearly dropping her laptop as she stared at the carnage of the crash site. The other three girls had similar reactions, all four of them standing frozen. Bits and pieces, both small and large, littered the area around the broken body of the aircraft. Flames burned high from the detached wing and the busted cockpit, carrying with it the stench of burning flesh. A single body was visible towards the rear of the craft, lying face down on the ground away from it, blood staining a large portion of his side.

Uiharu looked away, closing her eyes to try and get rid of the sight as Saten's bat fell to the ground, the girl staring at the body with both hands over her mouth. Never before had either of them seen so much carnage and blood.

Misaka stood still in the same spot, her eyes watching as Shirai unsteadily started towards the body. The redhead got down onto her knee, checking for a pulse on the man's covered neck; the look on her face was enough to tell Misaka that the man was dead. As Shirai started back onto her feet, her eyes drifted over to the inside of the aircraft.

Her eyes instantly widened to their fullness, the girl crying out as she fell down onto her butt. Uiharu looked back at the cry, seeing Misaka already running over to Shirai as Saten snapped out of her trance and started to head over to them. As soon as the two girls saw what Shirai had spotted, they were overcome with shock.

"N-no..." Misaka stuttered as Saten fell down onto her knees, the girl just _staring_ at the sight, not able to take her eyes away from it.

Uiharu walked up to them, fearful of what she would see. That fear was utterly founded when she caught sight of what was in the aircraft, her eyes landing upon the nine bloody bodies of what could only be soldiers. She collapsed down onto her legs, sitting with her feet underneath her. "D-did... anyone survive...?" She managed to ask, albeit in an extremely low voice.

Just as she said that, one of the heads suddenly moved, eliciting a cry from Uiharu as she fell back. "W-who's there...?" A scared voice asked in English, his head looking around him from where he sat in the middle of a row. When he didn't receive an answer from the stunned girls, he spoke again. "S-sarge...?"

Misaka took a step forward, speaking in English. "We're... here to help; are you hurt?" She asked as she continued into the troop-bay, ducking under a piece of metal sticking out to get in.

The corporal couldn't hear clearly, but he could tell that the voice wasn't anyone from his squad. Knowing that only other marines or army troopers would be this far out on the edge of the city, he took them for another squad. Just as he was about to speak, he noticed a slowly fading jarring pain in his side. He grimaced as he opened his eyes, meeting the sight of only pitch-black darkness. Realization hit him.

"N-no... Not me..." He muttered, reaching for his helmet and taking it off just as Misaka reached him.  
"Wh-what do you mean?" She asked, taken aback by his refusal.

"The... the 2nd Platoon, help them..." He held his helmet out to her, Misaka growing more confused but taking it nonetheless. "Waypoint is up... on the HUD..." He suddenly coughed, blood dripping down from his mouth.

Misaka's eyes widened at the sight of the blood, the girl taking a step back. As she did this, she caught sight of metal sticking out of the man's side. "J-just hold on, we're going to get you-"

Her voice cut off when she saw the soldier rip his dog-tags off, the man holding them out to her. "We were... supposed to flank from behind... but, banshee..." He coughed again, the dog-tags slipping through his fingers. "Help... the 2nd..." His arms fell limp, his eyes slowly closing for the last time.

"H-hey!" Misaka cried out, starting forward, but stopping once she realized that he was already gone. She stared at the lifeless body, only hearing her breathing. _The... 2nd Platoon...? He didn't care... about his wound...? Instead, he worried about this 2nd? _She looked down, catching sight of the dog-tags. She bent down, scooping them up into her hand as she looked at the helmet. _A... waypoint?_

"Onee-sama..." Misaka looked over at Shirai who stood at the entrance, a somber expression on the girl's face. She spared a glance over at the man before looking away from him.

Misaka clutched the dog-tags as she glanced around at the numerous bodies behind her, taking note that they were fully equipped for war. Large, bulky rifles were held in their hands or scattered about, and they were fully armored from neck to toe. "Kuroko... I think we're in the middle of a warzone..."

"A... warzone...?" Shirai muttered, looking at Misaka. "But that's not... we were just in Academy City...!"

Misaka started heading out of the aircraft, not looking at the bodies as she kept her eyes focused on her friend. "Do you know what those thugs we were chasing stole?"

Shirai nodded, stepping aside and walking with the brunette outside where Uiharu was standing away from the crash with Saten trying to keep her distracted from remembering the gruesome sight they had all seen. "They didn't specify what it was, but they did tell us it was an experimental device of some kind..."

"An experimental device..." Misaka thought back on it, wondering just how they had come to such a new place where aliens walked abandoned streets and where soldiers were fighting, probably, those aliens. Before all of this had happened, she and her friends had been running through Academy City streets on short notice, chasing after a group of thugs.

The girls had caught up with them near a power-plant only to find that one of the thugs had a machine gun. Reacting with apparently too much force, Misaka had used her power, managing to strike not only the thugs, but also the plant and the stolen object they had in their possession. The last thing she remembered were surges of high-voltage electricity and a big, bright light coming from the box.

The next thing she had known, they weren't in Academy City anymore; so, that left her with one assumption. "Kuroko, could it be possible that it was some kind of teleporter?"

Shirai blinked, her head snapping up. "A man-made teleporter?" She looked back down, closing her eyes and thinking it over with a hand on her chin. What her onee-sama was saying made sense; after all, how else were they to explain their sudden arrival in an unknown place? "That does seem logical..." Her eyes opened when she realized something. "If that's so, doesn't that mean those thugs and the device itself will also be here?"

"That's probably right, though it does seem strange that we didn't all end up in the same place..."

"Maybe it's because we were standing away from them?" Saten suddenly chimed in, causing Misaka and Shirai to look over at her, Uiharu standing beside the girl looking a little better.

"We could... we could have been teleported in two separate groups." Uiharu began, starting in a soft voice but quickly making her voice louder as she went on. "Considering that they weren't there with us, we could have been teleported to separate places in separate groups. If it is an experimental device like we were told, then it's highly likely."

"So, what we should be doing right now is locating the thugs and the device, and finding a way back to Academy City." Misaka said, looking up into the sky. "But where do we start? It could be anywhere."

"Uiharu, didn't the research facility give you some tracking information on the device?" Shirai asked, remembering that was how they had tracked the thugs down in the first place.

The girl nodded, looking down her laptop and starting to open it up. "Yes, that's right. But without a proper map, I can't get any information on where the device is." She turned the power on. "I'll see if I can connect to a network, though."

* * *

**Rooftop**

For three days now, the Jackal has been moving from one sniper spot to the next, waiting for heretic patrols to pass by so that it could cut them down. Only on the first day did such a patrol pass by, where it had swiftly taken out the driver, causing the vehicle to crash into the side of a building. The gunner had been next, not even being able to fire off a single shot. And since then, the most excitement it has had was watching one of the heretics' dropships crash nearby.

After having checked for survivors of the crash from it's vantage point, it had managed to shoot one of the humans in the back as he exited the wreck. Then, when no more came, it decided to have a meal in celebration, and had ended up taking a nap afterwards. But only a minute ago was it woken up by heretic voices, and, acting quickly, it had grabbed its beam rifle.

Now, as it aimed with the aid of its headgear, it could see four human females mulling about the dropship. Two of the females, one of which had a portable computer, stood a little away from the dropship where the other two females stood. The Jackal could tell that these humans were only civilians and not soldiers, but didn't give any thought as to why civilians would be here when the area had been among the first to be evacuated.

Deciding to not wait any longer, it thought about which human to kill first. Since they all looked pretty much the same to the Jackal, it decided to go with the one with the portable computer. It centered its sights onto her head, giving off a Jackal's grin as it could now add another kill to its list.

Then, it pulled the trigger.

* * *

Pain... so much pain.

All she could feel was that pain as her body slumped down to the ground, her knees hitting it before she tumbled down onto her side. Her vision faded as she heard distant cries, the pain ending just as the darkness enveloped her.

* * *

A flash of pure energy shot above Saten's eyes, passing by her and going for Uiharu. Saten could only look on in terror as the girl's laptop clattered down onto the ground, Uiharu following it. "KAZARI!" Saten shouted, racing for her friend and taking her into her arms. "Kazari! Kazari!"

Misaka watched as Uiharu fell down to the ground, her eyes wide as terror clawed at her mind. Before she could look to where the beam had come from, Shirai was speeding past her, picking up a pistol laying on the ground before teleporting away. Catching sight of the building that she believed the beam had come from, Misaka ran over to Saten and Uiharu, covering them all from anymore of the beams as she used her power to lift up the burning wing and hold it in front of them. It strained her with the wing's weight, but she stood strong, determined to not let anymore of her friends be hurt.

Shirai, as soon as she saw Uiharu fall to the ground, felt a sudden surge of adrenaline. Barely thinking, she dashed forward, picking up a pistol before teleporting away to the building the beam had come from. As soon as she appeared on the roof, she aimed the pistol, and her eyes widened at what she saw.

Back on the ground, Misaka had moved the wing to lean up against the building, all three of the girls underneath it despite the heat. Not having to focus on holding it up anymore, the brunette turned her attention onto Saten and Uiharu. "Saten, is Uiharu..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at them, as tears fell from Saten's eyes and landed on Uiharu's cheeks.

"Kazari..." Saten muttered, smiling through the tears.  
Uiharu's eyes were wide open in shock and fear, her mouth quivering as she looked up at Saten.  
"Thank goodness..." Misaka breathed, feeling relief wash over her. "You're alright... We thought you got hit."

With Saten's help, Uiharu sat up, her body trembling as she wrapped her arms around herself. "It... it went... right in front of... my eyes..." She softly spoke, her breathing gradually slowing as she calmed herself. Not only had she seen the beam pass by right in front of her, but she could still remember the heat of it and the sound it had made when it hit the building.

Uiharu just knew that if she had been hit by it, she wouldn't be alive.

* * *

**Rooftop**

A bird-like alien was lying on the roof on its side, a triangular-shaped weapon still being held in its hands despite death having washed over it. Shirai lowered her pistol slightly, walking up to the alien as she wondered if it had been the sniper. If it _had _been the one to shoot, then something or someone had to have killed it right after it took the shot.

Coming up to the alien, Shirai caught sight of something strange on its back. Taking a look, she saw what appeared to be a blade wound in its back. Bending down to take a closer look, she found that it was cauterized, not bleeding in the least. Putting her hand up to it, she could still feel a little heat coming from it. That was enough to convince her that this now dead alien had been the sniper, and had also been just killed.

Her head snapped up as she shot up, aiming her pistol at... nothing. Then, for just a moment, it seemed like the air shimmered; but, before she knew it, the shimmering disappeared. Taking one last look at the corpse, she teleported back to Misaka and the others.

As soon as she saw Uiharu up and unharmed, Shirai felt an enormous wave of relief wash over her, almost enough to make her sink down onto her knees. "Kuroko, what did you see?" Her onee-sama's voice asked, catching the redhead's attention.

"It was... already dead." Shirai muttered, causing Misaka to give her a confused look. "When I arrived, someone, or something, had already killed the alien sniper... However, I didn't see who or what did it."

As Misaka started to think it over, Saten suddenly spoke up. "What if there's... more of them? What are we going to do?" The girl asked, fearful for all of their safety. Who knows what would happen in this strange place? First, a ship comes flying out of the sky; second, an alien blows itself up in front of them; and thirdly, now there was something that had tried to kill Uiharu! What'd come next!?

What were they going to do? That's a good question as Misaka wasn't sure of what to do either. They couldn't very well just stay in one place; more aliens just might show up and be even deadlier than before. But, if they moved, there might be more snipers... then, there was the 2nd platoon and the 'waypoint' the soldier spoke about.

_Help... the 2nd..._

"We..." Misaka felt hesitant about it, but if those soldiers were fighting the aliens... they might be able to help her and her friends. Not to mention that the safest place would be with the military in an alien invasion, since they would (should) have the weapons and equipment to defend against such threats. "We should meet up with this... 2nd Platoon he was speaking about."

"2-2nd Platoon...?" Uiharu asked, still recovering from the shock as Saten helped her back onto her feet.

Misaka nodded, Shirai watching her closely as the brunette continued. "They were heading to help the 2nd, so I think we should head there. Maybe they'll help us; but, in the very least, it should be safe, or safer, with the military around. And, maybe we can help this platoon in their place." She finished, glancing back at the wreckage.

"What if there's more snipers out there?" Saten asked, looking at Misaka before noticing Uiharu's laptop on the ground. She picked it up, checking to see if the power was still on and finding out that it had been knocked out. Instead of turning the power on immediately, she waited for what Misaka was going to say.

Instead of Misaka, it was Shirai who spoke up first. "It's not safe here; this wreck is going to turn into a bonfire pretty soon, and when the aliens learn that they've lost contact with their friend..."

"They'll come and check it out..." Uiharu finished for her.

Misaka nodded in agreement. "We can't hide either; we have no clue what kind of technology these guys have, so that's why I think it's best we meet up with this 2nd Platoon. If we help them out, they might help us out in return. Besides, at least it would be safer with the military than out here on our own."

"Alright." Saten said, seeing the logic in their choice.  
"But how do we find them?" Uiharu asked as she took her laptop back.

Misaka and Shirai looked at each other, Misaka's hand going onto her chin as she remembered what the man had been speaking about. As she did this, Saten's eyes caught sight of the helmet Misaka had dropped earlier. "The soldier said something about a 'waypoint' on a... HUD?" She said, wondering just what he meant by a 'HUD'. "After saying that, he handed me his-"

"I think I know how to find them..." All three of the girls looked over at Saten, seeing the long black-haired girl wearing the soldier's helmet.

* * *

**2nd Platoon**

An explosion sent Lieutenant Wayne down onto the ground just as one of his men, Private Scott, went down with a burning hole in his chest. "Where are our reinforcements!?" Someone shouted as another fuel rod shot blasted a hole in a building.

"He'll be here!" Wayne shouted, his voice carrying to the remaining twenty-fou-, twenty-three men and women under his command. He scrambled back onto his feet, sighting over a barricade and downing three Grunts with two bursts of BR fire before taking out a Jackal who had left itself exposed for a brief moment. However, the real problem were the two Hunters inching closer and closer to their _second_ and last line of barricades.

The firefight had been going on for a good hour now, and he had started out with forty men and women in his command along with two Warthogs. However, almost half of his soldiers were killed, with three others being wounded, and the Warthogs were blasted to bits. The Covenant had assaulted their position en masse, swarms of Grunts being sent in before the rest of the bloody aliens showed up, bringing with them two Wraiths. Of course, after his marines spent all of their heavy ordinance taking out the Wraiths, _H__unters _had shown up.

Now, after so much fighting, the enemy force consisted mostly of Elites and Jackals, with only a fraction of the Grunts from the beginning remaining. Unfortunately, the aliens were putting up a good fight. Elites dodged in and out of cover, not letting their shields fall before they got back behind a wall or back into cover. The Jackals stayed behind their energy gauntlets, taking potshots at whoever tried to poke his or her head out from cover.

The only good thing going for them was that the enemy was attacking all from the front, not even bothering to try and flank them. However, his men were so hard-pressed by the enemy assault that it was taking all of them to keep the Covenant at bay to the point where Wayne couldn't even spare a single marine to flank the enemy.

All they could do was to pray that reinforcements would quickly arrive.

* * *

**Unknown**

_Th__is is strange. All civilians in this sector should have been evacuated, so why are there four school-girls wandering out there? Even stranger, their uniforms do not match any of this city, or planet for that matter. I've alerted the captain about this; however, there are no units currently free to retrieve them, so we must leave them to their... fate._

_..._

_What's this?_

* * *

**Crash Site**

"This is a bit... heavy." Saten muttered as she picked up a rifle of some kind, one that had a scope on it and was about as long as one of the large, bulky rifles that were the most numerous. Looking over at Shirai, she saw the girl packing a belt full of grenades; when the redhead finished, she slung it over her shoulder.

"Are you two ready?" Misaka asked as she stood out with Uiharu in front of the troop-bay. The reason the two were getting weapons was, of course, to protect themselves from anymore of the aliens. After all, Shirai only has so many of her weapons and Saten's bat would probably be useless against aliens with guns and swords.

"Yes, onee-sama!" Shirai exclaimed, her voice more serious than usual.  
"Same here..." Saten muttered as she tried to get used to the rifle's weight.

"I'll lead the way," Misaka said, starting forward in the direction of the waypoint before looking back at Saten who still had the helmet on, "make sure we're going in the right direction, Saten."

"I will."

Misaka nodded at the girl before setting her eyes forward, her own expression serious. "Let's go." With that, the four girls set off in the direction of the 2nd Platoon, never noticing that they were being watched by not just one set of eyes, but by two - one in the form of surveillance cameras, and one not...


	3. Electromaster

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun or Halo, or Index.**

**A/N: Read 1st Volume of ACSR, and just brought ACMI (S1P1) along with Halo: Mortal Dictata.**

**P.S. Longest chapter I have ever written...**

* * *

Misaka peered out from the side of the building, scanning windows and rooftops and looking for the slightest thing out of place. It took a little bit to carefully look over the entire area, but it was better to spend that time looking than to get shot because they were hasty. When she felt that there were no snipers out there, she turned back to her friends. "Alright, let's go!"

They nodded, and Misaka took the lead, running down the sidewalk with the other three girls following close behind. As Shirai kept an eye on the buildings, Saten checked the arrow's position. "We just have to keep going straight ahead for now."

"Tell us when we need to take a turn." Misaka replied, stopping at an intersection and observing the buildings both ways before bolting across.

"Right!"

Like that, they continued forward, heading for the distant waypoint where the 2nd Platoon would be located. However, as they were heading across another intersection, the girls suddenly heard a high-pitched noise filling the air around them. Misaka could tell that it wasn't made by any human or animal she knew of; it actually sounded more like a...

"It sounds like a... banshee...?" Saten said, remembering the sound from some of the horror movies she's seen.  
"A banshee...?" Shirai whispered, starting to glance over at Saten before suddenly snapping her head back over to Misaka, the brunette remembering the same thing.

_We were... supposed to flank from behind... but, banshee..._

"Everyone, get inside!" Misaka shouted, watching as Uiharu and Saten hurried into the building whose door was closest to the intersection. Shirai was next, grabbing ahold of her onee-sama's hand and starting to drag her inside. However, before they could into the building, something suddenly whipped by overhead. Looking up into the sky, the two girls saw some kind of purple aircraft coming around.

"Kuroko!" Misaka exclaimed, shoving the girl into the building before taking off to the opposite side of the street. The aircraft, the 'Banshee', had seen them; otherwise, it wouldn't be coming around to fire at them with who knows what kind of weaponry. She only knew that she had to get it away from her friends, to get its attention onto her. It worked, as the Banshee was now oriented towards her as she ran down the street.

"Onee-sama!" Shirai cried out, watching as blue balls of burning plasma left the alien aircraft, searing holes into the road and whipping up fragments near Misaka.

The brunette kept running, diving forward to dodge a shot that had come _way _too close. As the fire let up for just a moment, she took that moment to channel her electricity and send a lightning bolt right up towards the craft. The Banshee veered to the right just as it fired a larger, slower green ball of plasma. As Misaka scrambled up onto her feet, the lightning tore into the side of the vehicle. damaging it but not fatally.

Before she could see the results of her attack, the green ball of plasma exploded into the ground too close to her, sending her flying forward and down onto the ground, rolling a bit before stopping. Misaka could feel pain in her back, but she got up onto her feet anyways. As she channeled electricity about her for another attack, as Shirai prepared to dash forward and teleport a grenade right into the path of the Banshee, something suddenly... happened.

* * *

**Unknown**

The corpses of two army troopers, a sniper team, laid in front of the window. They had been long dead, for days now, but their equipment and weapons still laid about. However, steps echoed in the abandoned building as something, or someone, ran up them. A hand reached down for the trooper's sniper that was still cradled in the man's hands, hesitating for just a moment before tearing it out of the man's dead grasp. Lifeless eyes watched as the rifle was lifted up for the first time in three days, and lifeless ears heard the crack of it when the trigger was pulled.

* * *

Misaka flinched when a loud sound filled the air; and, in that moment, she saw something strike the Banshee, leaving a smoke trail in its wake. The Banshee continued to fly, dropping altitude and keeping straight until it crashed into a building, igniting into a fiery ball of blue flame. Misaka was surprised by it, and by the time she looked to see where the shot had come from, the trail had already dissipated.

"Misaka-san!" Uiharu called out as she and the others ran over to the electromaster, Saten looking over at the wreckage of the Banshee as she slowly followed behind the two Judgment officers.

"Onee-sama, are you hurt?" Shirai asked, her tone one of concern as she quickly looked Misaka over and caught sight of some tears in the girl's uniform on her back, a couple of scrapes marring her skin. "What were you thinking, dashing away like that!?" She scolded, a hand on her onee-sama's back.

"I'm alright, it's only a couple of scratches," Misaka began, trying to ease her friends' worrying, "anyways, we don't have time to stand around. We need to get to the 2nd Platoon, before we run into anymore of those aliens or... Banshees."

Shirai took another look at Misaka's back before sighing and retracting her hand. "Alright. Saten, show us the way."

* * *

**Company Headquarters**

_This... this is..._

"The 1st and 3rd Platoons are currently being engaged by Covenant forces in the south-west and west areas of the city respectively. Recon Force Bravo is currently patrolling the north-west area while the 2nd Platoon is engaged in heavy combat with a Covenant force in the north. The 1st and 3rd cannot spare any reinforcements, and if we were to send in Bravo, this base would be exposed to enemy assault from the north-west." Lieutenant Cagle reported as he, Captain Prock, and Lieutenant Key looked over a tactical map of the city.

"Our tanks are still undergoing maintenance here, and we cannot jeopardize the safety of this base by sending out anymore of the 4th. We lost not only an entire squad of men, but also one of our few Pelicans; we can't risk anymore losses. And if we were to send them by ground, they could get pinned down by enemy snipers." Lieutenant Key added to Cagle's report.

Captain Prock stared at the map, her expression tense as she wondered just what, if anything, she could do to help out the 2nd. Aside from the ODST currently remaining in the city, there was no other help that she could send. It frustrated her, but until they got those tanks repaired...

"Captain." Prock looked over to the pedestal in the room, a hologram of an AI on it.  
"What is it, Cole?"  
"I request that you immediately order Recon Force Bravo to 2nd's position, and move in the 1st and 2nd squads to cover the gap."  
"And leave only the 4th and the army troopers here!?" Cagle cried out, staring in wonder at the female AI who just ignored him.

Prock sighed, her hand rubbing her temple. "Cole, I can understand your concern for the 2nd, but to expose ourselves to the Covenant base opposite of this ci-"  
"Do you remember the civilians I told you about?"  
"Yes... I do."  
"One of them is a living weapon."

Silence came over the room, the men and women in there staring at the AI in shock and confusion as they wondered if she had gone rampant, despite being only three-years old. Prock cleared her throat, tugging at her collar before speaking. "What do you mean?"

Cole smiled as she gestured over to a video screen. "I'll show you."

* * *

**2nd Platoon**

"Lieutenant!" Wayne snapped his head up, making eye contact with the Jackal sniper that was aiming directly at him. As time seemed to slow down, he tried to take aim, even though he knew he wouldn't make it in time. Then, without warning, bullets slammed into the Jackal from behind, its shot going too far up and completely missing Wayne. The Jackals around the falling sniper were suddenly enveloped in an explosion along with an Elite too close to them, blowing the Jackals apart and shearing the shields off of the Elite.

As the Elite spun around to face its aggressor, it found the end of a shotgun in its mouth. The alien's head exploded into a shower of blood and gore which smeared the black armor of an ODST as he pumped his shotgun once more and took cover behind a building.

"Reinforcements!" Wayne called out, taking the Covenant's momentary surprise at the attack on their flank to take down two Jackals who left themselves exposed. As their comrades beside them shifted their shields back into position, a hail of AR fire from the side cut down another two.

Immediately following that, Wayne heard Saionji's voice on the radio. _"This is Lieutenant Saionji, I'll weaken their left flank! Keep those Hunters off of me!"_

"Copy that, Lieutenant. We'll keep you covered!" Wayne responded before issuing out orders to his platoon. As some of their vigor was restored, Wayne wondered if just one ODST would be enough to turn the tide. He was left with a grim answer when a shot from a Hunter landed in the midst of three of his men.

* * *

**The Girls**

"It's getting louder." Misaka muttered as they rounded another corner, her eyes moving about more frequently than before as all of them started getting nervous. The gunfire and the explosions had been steadily getting louder the more they ran, telling them that the 2nd was very close by. "Saten, how much further?" Misaka asked, looking back at her friend.

"Take a right up here, then it should be straight ahead."  
"Alright, thanks."

A couple dozen more meters and they were at the next corner, Misaka stopping and keeping close to the wall. As Shirai took a couple of grenades into her hands, the brunette motioned for the others to be quiet before peering out into the street, her eyes widening at what she saw.

Within fifty meters of her was a mass of aliens of all different kinds: five-foot aliens with some kind of _thing _on their back, bird-like aliens wielding a blue shield on their left forearm, _tall _aliens of the same kind as the first one she and the others had come across, and then there were two _massive _armored aliens with large metal shields and... _cannons _on their arms. Along with the aliens, there was a mass of their fallen laying underfoot, blood, gore, and limbs all strewn about. The sight of it almost made her sick enough to vomit.

Before she looked away from it all, she caught sight of what lay beyond the line of aliens. She couldn't see it very well through the aliens that blocked her eyesight, but she did catch sight of one soldier behind a barricade, shooting at the aliens right before pink needles slammed into her shoulder. The woman uttered a cry Misaka couldn't hear right before a pink explosion engulfed her.

Misaka tore her head back around, covering her mouth as she sank down onto the ground. Shirai softly cried out "onee-sama!" as she quickly bent down and laid a hand on her. As the redhead asked what was wrong, Misaka couldn't bring herself to say _anything_, leaving Shirai to look for herself.

When she saw what her onee-sama had, Shirai quickly looked away, pressing her back and hands against the wall. Following her lead, both Saten and Uiharu looked, Saten backing up once she caught sight of it and falling down onto her butt as Uiharu stood frozen in the same spot.

"We... have to... help them..." Misaka muttered, her voice soft and low. With the help of the wall, she got back up onto her feet, digging into her pocket and taking out an arcade token. She didn't know what was going on, but she did know that aliens had tried to kill her and her friends, and now those aliens are _killing _other people. She couldn't just stand by...

"Onee...sama..." Shirai whispered, looking as Misaka stepped past her and laid a hand on Uiharu, bringing the girl back into reality.

"Saten, Uiharu, stay back and look out for each other; I don't want the two of you to get involved." Misaka told them, guiding Uiharu back behind the wall as Saten climbed back onto her feet, the girl going over to Uiharu and checking to see if she was alright, even though she herself was still shaken by what she had seen.

Once Uiharu and Saten were back, Misaka looked into Shirai's eyes. "Shirai, I'll need your help."  
Shirai nodded. "Right!"

After readying themselves, the two girls looked back to the aliens, trying their best to ignore the blood and gore. Glancing at the two biggest aliens, Misaka spotted what looked like to be places in its armor where it revealed orange... _worms_. "Shirai, I'll try to distract them by taking out one of the big ones; while I do that, teleport those grenades into their midst. Hopefully, they'll be confused or scared enough to scatter."

"Yes, onee-sama!"  
"Let's do this!"

With that, Misaka burst out from behind the wall, lining up with the nearest armored alien as Shirai started pulling pins and teleporting grenades. Electricity flowed about Misaka as she aimed the coin, not caring to flip it. "Take this!" She called out, sending the coin barreling with an explosive power of energy that slammed into the alien's orange side, blowing out orange blood and toppling the alien over. As it fell, its cannon went off, catching the other one in the side and blowing even a larger hole out of it.

As Misaka looked on with a bit of astonishment at having downed _both _of the aliens, a lone explosion sounded out right before a chain reaction of explosions disrupted the entire alien line. She charged her current, ready to fry any of the aliens that tried to fight back. She was a bit hesitant to do so though, and she hoped they would all just run away.

Over by Uiharu, Saten was kneeling on the ground. She wanted to help too, and this time she _did_ havesomething to help with. Lifting the rifle up, she aimed with the much-needed help of the reticule and looked for one of the five-foot aliens that looked somewhat important. Unlike the others of its kind, it had on white armor and seemed to be somewhat in charge. A blast had knocked off its helmet, and Saten aimed until the reticule was right on its head. As Uiharu watched, she pulled the trigger.

The bullet left the barrel, the rifle kicking back in recoil as the projectile sailed through the air and found its target, dropping the alien down to the ground with a bleeding hole in its head. "S-Saten-san...! You did it!" Uiharu exclaimed, surprised at her friend's feat.

"Y-y-y-yeah..." Saten muttered, her rifle dropping down onto the ground.  
"Saten-san?" Uiharu asked, looking back at her friend.  
"My... shoulder..."

Shirai suddenly appeared right beside them, almost all of her grenades now gone. "Onee-sama!" She called out, not noticing Saten in pain as she was too focused on the danger that they were all in, especially her onee-sama who was still out in the road.

Misaka looked back at Shirai, nodding once before starting to head her way. Before she could start back, she saw the alien she had downed struggling to get back up on its feet. "My railgun wasn't enough...!?" The alien steadied itself onto its two feet, the cannon arm swinging around and pointing directly at her.

"Onee-sama!"

* * *

**2nd Platoon**

Wayne ducked under another needle, quickly loading another clip into his battle rifle. He wished he could say he was running low, but his dead men provided plenty enough of ammunition. As he popped up over cover once more, he saw the farthest Hunter charging its cannon and pointing it directly at him. Before he could wonder why he was always the one getting targeted, the Hunter's side suddenly exploded, sending its blood flying as it fell to the ground. The cannon on its arm went off, catching and killing its partner.

"Lord..." Wayne whispered, ducking back into cover when some Jackals caught sight of him. An explosion sounded out, and then multiple explosions. Peering over the barricade, he saw the Covenant's line being engulfed in smoke and shrapnel. "Lieutenant, _what _did you do!?" He called out over the radio, wondering just what the ODST had had up his sleeve.

_"I... just threw one grenade..."  
_"Say again?"  
_"There appears to have been a chain reaction of explosions in their midst; their forces are becoming disarrayed now, pour into them!"_

"You heard the ODST! Fire everything you've got!" Wayne called out to his little over a dozen remaining marines as he took aim and downed Jackal after Jackal. "Take the Jackals out before they can reform their shield wall!"

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the Covenant's confusion, ODST Lieutenant Saionji was sticking his knife into an Elite Ultra's neck, dropping the corpse to the ground. Looking back to the carnage, he caught sight of a civilian standing several dozen meters away from the Covenant's rear. Before he could wonder just what a civilian was doing all the way out of here, he saw one of the Hunters getting back onto its feet.

His eyes widened briefly before narrowing when he saw it aiming his cannon at the girl. Acting quickly, he took his assault rifle into his hands and opened up on the Hunter with short-fire bursts.

* * *

Bullets slammed into the alien's armored side, a lucky one catching it in its exposed neck. Giving a roar, the behemoth swung its cannon around to face its new aggressor. Misaka caught sight of a black-armored figure as it, or he, ran up to the alien. Deciding to not use its cannon, the creature charged the soldier, raising its shield up high. As it began to bring it down, the soldier dived off to the side, coming up behind the alien.

"Get out of here!" He yelled out to her as he took a shotgun off of his back and fired it one-handed into the alien's large wound. The creature gave another roar but didn't drop; instead, it swung around, the soldier barely dodging the large shield in time.

Misaka stood there, looking for an opening in which to use her power. But with the soldier right there around it going every which way, she was too afraid that she'd blast him instead of the alien. Then, as she watched, the alien suddenly jerked just _slightly_. Right after that, Shirai suddenly appeared beside the man, laying her hand upon him before they both disappeared. As soon as they were gone, the creature exploded into a mass of blood and gore.

Over by Uiharu and Saten, Shirai appeared alongside the soldier she had gotten after teleporting a grenade inside of the alien. The man fell down to the ground, but quickly got up onto his knee and scanned the area with his rifle, passing it over the three of them. He lowered his rifle, seemingly staring at Shirai as he stood up and took a few steps back. **"What... happened?"** He asked her in English.

"Kuroko, are you alright?" Misaka called out as she reached her friends, coming to a stop beside the redhead as she stared at the heavily-armored and armed soldier; he looked _far_ better equipped and _far_ more intimidating than any Anti-Skill officer she's seen before. "Are you alright?" She asked him in Japanese, forgetting about using English.

He looked over at her before glancing around at all of them, his visor coming to rest towards her when he spoke. "Japanese?" He asked in perfect Japanese.

"What's going on?" Shirai suddenly spoke up, taking a step towards him.

He looked back to her, his hold on his assault rifle tightening when he remembered the situation the 2nd was in. "Look, get down and stay put. Covenant forces are assaulting this position, so we can't EVAC you until we've routed them." He started forward, slightly pushing aside Shirai. "Just stay pu-" When he rounded the corner, he saw an Ultra aiming a fuel rod at their position.

"Get do-" Before he could finish, a high-velocity slug _slammed _through the Elite's chest and kept on going until it embedded itself into the wall. Looking from where it had come from, Saionji caught sight of three Warthogs barreling down the road. **"Reinforcements!"** He yelled out over the radio to the 2nd, momentarily forgetting about the civilians as he joined the attack on the remaining Covenant.

Misaka and Shirai shared a look before looking out into the road, catching sight of three vehicles speeding down the street towards them. One of them was firing short-bursts from a machine gun on its back while another fired high-velocity slugs with a slower rate-of-fire. The middle vehicle didn't have a turret; instead, there were three soldiers riding in the back with another one in the passenger seat.

The aliens, the 'Covenant', were trying to reform their line though they had lost more than half of their forces in the attack and were rapidly losing more. Shields went up both ways, blocking some bullets but failing to block the slugs from the third vehicle. As the girls watched, the middle one veered off from the other two and came up beside them, the driver presenting his side to the Covenant as his passengers disembarked. He took out a pistol and opened up with another three soldiers while the fourth one came over to them.

**"Listen up, civilians,"** He began, glancing over the four middle-school students before continuing, **"we're here to get you out of here and back to HQ. Just hop into the Warthog and we'll handle the rest. We've got no time to waste, so saddle up!"**

"W-wai-" Uiharu began, but all of their attention was suddenly focused on the side as a large purple aircraft rounded a building.

**"Phantom!"** A marine yelled out as the turret swung around to target the Passenger Warthog; but before it could open fire, a blast of powerful lightning went straight through it, the turret exploding into fragments. **"What the...!"** The marine in front of the girls exclaimed as he glanced over at Misaka, electricity sparking about her body. Before anything else could be said, the doors of the Phantom opened up, revealing an entire squad of Covenant.

As the aliens leveled their guns in the direction of the soldiers and civilians, missiles slammed into the bay and all against the Phantom's side. The alien soldiers were either blown out or engulfed in the explosions as the Phantom swerved, took another round of missiles, and then crashed down onto the side of the street.

**"Pelicans!?"** A marine cried out in a joyful and surprised voice.  
**"It's Delta Company!"** Another cried.

Misaka watched as four aircraft just like the one that she had seen go down fly into view, the so-called 'Pelicans' firing their machine guns into the Covenant position as the rear two lowered tanks down onto the street along with two squads of soldiers. The tanks fired, their shells landing in the midst of the aliens, tearing them apart and sending all but the tall ones running. Without their cannon fodder and shield-bearers, they quickly fell as bullets from both sides shredded them apart.

**"Watch your fire! We've got friendlies on the other side!"**  
**"First Squad take the right flank, don't let them get away!"**  
**"3rd and 4th Squads touching down!"**  
**"All squads advance!"**

The soldiers advanced on the retreating aliens, mowing them down in the open and hunting them through buildings, not letting a single one get away. With most of them having been killed in direct combat, the battle was soon over, leaving the men and women to tend to the wounded as Misaka and her friends watched from the sideline.

* * *

**1st Platoon - Delta Company**

"So, the _Waysider _was finally able to break away from that frigate?" Wayne asked as he clasped hands with the 1st's lieutenant, a woman by the name of Drake.

The lieutenant smiled at him, clasping his hand tight. "Break away? Heh, the flyboys took that thing down! All it is now is just some scrap metal and dead bodies."

Wayne's eyes widened in response, the man leaning forward in surprise. "You guys took that thing down!? It's twice the size of the _Waysider; _and the _Waysider _is just a Charon-Class!"

"Let's just say that Ballast has a new highest mountain, Lieutenant Wayne."  
"Man, what _did _you do!?"  
"I'll tell you later, back at HQ."

They unclasped hands, sharing a few more words before Wayne went off to oversee what was left of his platoon. Drake watched him go for a few moments before turning around, starting to head back over to the two tanks. Stopping for a moment, she looked over to her left and caught sight of the ODST standing in front of a group of civilians; but before she could inquire about what was going on, one of her men suddenly called out to her in an urgent voice.

Lieutenant Saionji stood in front of the four girls, digesting what they had told him while Recon Force Bravo's commander was speaking to an operations officer over the radio about her unit's lack of information.

"So, let me get this straight," Saionji began, speaking in English and looking into each of the girls' eyes, "you all suddenly showed up here in this city after an incident involving some kind of experimental teleportation device. After arriving here, you saw a Pelican crash and investigated it, finding out about the 2nd. Deciding to help, you started heading this way?"

"Yes, that's right." Shirai told him, feeling somewhat relieved that the soldier, the ODST as he said, was finally catching on after who knows how much explaining they've done.

"Not only did you come from some other place, but you're also _espers_."  
"Well, I'm only a Level 0." Saten said, rubbing the back of her head as she smiled.  
"And I'm just a Level 1." Uiharu added.

Saionji nodded towards the two girls before looking back at Shirai. "But you're a Level 4 Teleporter, which is how you killed that Hunter and got me out of the blast radius," He locked eyes with Misaka, being able to make direct eye contact since his visor was depolarized, "and you... you're a Level 5 Electromaster."

"Not only one of the only seven Level 5s in Academy City, but also ranked _3rd _amongst them: Misaka Mikoto, the one and only Railgun, my onee-sama." Shirai said, her tone one of pride and admiration despite the situation they were in.

Saionji sighed, presenting his side to the girls as he looked over at Bravo. "Look, I don't care if your espers, but you're still human and you're still civilians. We can sort everything out when we get back to HQ; but, right now, we have a problem." He watched as Bravo's commander got off of the radio and turned to him.

"What's happening?" Uiharu asked as she noticed a change of mood amongst the soldiers, all four of the girls watching silently as the commander walked up to the ODST.

"Lieutenant, you know?"  
"I do. A large Covenant force supported by armor is moving in from the north-west, threatening to overrun 1st and 2nd Squads' position."

Over behind Bravo, the girls could see one of the two Pelicans that had left coming back, a squad of marines jogging back into formation as the tanks supported by two squads took off down the road. The other two Pelicans were on the ground, increasing their pace at loading up the wounded and the rest of the 2nd.

Sergeant Major Stacker looked over towards the girls before glancing back at the Pelicans. "Civvies, we're going to fly you back to HQ while we deal with this Covenant force. We were supposed to bring you back by hog, but the situation has changed. You'll be safe, the flyboys know their business." She turned to look at two of her marines. "Malcolm, Smith, get over here!"

The two marines immediately jogged over, coming to a stop in front of their commander who pointed over at the girls. "You two will be seeing these kids back to HQ on Echo-581."  
"Yes ma'am!"

The two marines walked up to the girls, gesturing towards one of the Pelicans as they did so. "Girls, come with us; we're getting you out of here."

They looked at one another, taking a brief moment to wonder if this is what they should do. After seeing all that was going on, and considering they seemed to have landed in the middle of a war, there wasn't much, if any, objection to the thought of going with the soldiers.

"Please take good care of us." Uiharu said in English, giving a short bow to the man and woman.  
Saten, not knowing hardly any English, just stood there, feeling a little nervous and left out at the same time.

As the girls started to follow the marines, Misaka overheard Saionji's and Stacker's conversation.

"Ops reported they have multiple Wraiths moving in; and not just two or three, _eight _of them. Not only that, but Banshees are providing aerial cover. They're going to bulldozer over the 1st and 2nd as soon as they reach them and continue right for HQ!" Stacker told Saionji, a concerned look on her face.  
"We'll have to do what we can with what we've got."  
"But will it be enough?"  
Saionji's visor polarized, hiding his expression. "We'll have to make it enough..."

Misaka looked down at her hand, a spark of electricity flashing over it before she clenched her hand into a first. If this Covenant was pulling off a big attack and broke through those two squads, that meant her friends would be in danger. She couldn't let that happen. "I want to help."

Saionji and Stacker looked over at the brunette, Stacker's expression one of surprise. Shirai spun around, her expression wide-eyed as she wondered just what her onee-sama was thinking. Uiharu and Saten looked back, along with the two marines, watching and waiting. No one else spoke, so Misaka continued, taking a step forwards. "I don't want my friends to be in any danger; so, if there's any way I can help..." Electricity sparked above her head.

"Onee-sama, what do you think you're saying!? You could get killed!" Shirai cried out, running up to Misaka and stopping right in front of her.

"Kuroko..." Misaka smiled at the redhead, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I don't want to see you, Uiharu, or Saten get hurt. If I can help them with my ability, to keep you safe... then it doesn't matter how much danger there is."

"Misaka-san..." Uiharu muttered, the brunette looking back at her and giving both her and Saten the same smile she had given Shirai.

Stacker took a step forward. "Look, girl, I'm not going to have some kid fighting our battle even if she can shoot lightning willy-nilly and half-kill a Hunter with only a coin."

"She's right!" Shirai exclaimed, leaning towards Misaka.  
Misaka's eye twitched, electricity starting to spark along her entire body. "I'm not just a kid!"

Stacker's eyes narrowed as she looked at the electricity. Truth be told, the woman knew the girl's power could come in handy, but the girl is just a _kid_! She looked back to the ODST, hoping that he would help her to get this child straightened out. "Lieutenant, what do you think?"

"Even with Charlie's help, it's still only four Scorpions and two companies against eight Wraiths and an entire Covenant battalion..." He muttered quietly, but still loud enough for Stacker to hear.

"Lieutenant..." Stacker muttered, staring open-mouthed at the ODST.

"I know what you're thinking, sergeant; but ops just informed me that the Covenant fleet's destroyer is breaking orbit and forcing the _Waysider _off. We have no more reinforcements and absolutely no air support." He looked over at Misaka, his fists clenched. "If we lose, HQ will be overrun. As much as I don't like getting a kid involved, her power could very well be the thing that allows us to win."

"Lieutenant!" Stacker cried out, but Saionji ignored her as he walked up to Shirai who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Shirai's your name right? Well, look. You may be some teleporter, but I'm not getting any more of you involved in this. Go with your friends; and, don't worry, we'll look out after your 'onee-sama'."

Before Shirai could attempt to reject, Uiharu's hand went around her arm. Taking a look into the girl's eyes, and then another look into Misaka's, Shirai reluctantly surrendered and turned away from the brunette as Uiharu walked with her. "Onee-sama, you better make this up to me." She muttered without looking back.

Misaka smiled. "I will." After saying that, her eyes met with Saten's who was looking back at her from over by the two marines who stood waiting for the girls to catch up. She gave the long-haired girl a nod, Saten soon realizing that Misaka wasn't coming with them. However, when she caught sight of the look in Misaka's eyes, she only nodded in return before they headed off to the Pelican.

* * *

**Recon Force Bravo**

"Ikuto, you ready?" Private First Class Ember Maverick called out to the team's sniper as he climbed into the passenger seat.  
"Affirmative; and you, sarge?" The corporal said, looking up at Stacker who was manning the turret.

The woman nodded before turning back and looking over at Cook, the 2nd hog's driver. "Cook, you and Ryan better look after that civvie!"

"Yes ma'am!" The two marines called out to their superior. Cook glanced over at Misaka who was seated in the seat next to him while Ryan took the very back seat, considering that Forge had been hit and Malcolm and Smith were off on a Pelican. Having been informed about the situation, the two marines already knew that this middle-schooler was some 'powerful' _esper_.

"Want me to go over it again?" Cook asked as the Warthogs started forward, the Gauss hog bringing up the rear behind him as he followed after Ember's hog.

"The little ones are called 'Grunts', the birds are called 'Jackals', the tall ones are called 'Elites', and the armored behemoths are called 'Hunters', right?" Misaka said, having gone over the aliens as they had been getting ready to head out.

"Right. Grunts are simple cannon fodder; Jackals are snipers, but more commonly wield annoying shields. The Elites have their own personal, _more_-annoying shields, and they are highly trained individuals, hence the name. Some of them wield swords, but only the higher-ranks; so, if you see one with a sword, take it out with some fancy lightning show. Hunters are heavily armored and have powerful cannons, and they are _tough_." The vehicles turned a corner, driving through a mass of cars that littered the streets.

"There's going to be large, blue tanks called Wraiths and high-pitched fighters called Banshees. Our priority is them. Wraiths have a weak spot on their back, so aim for that; if you can't, target their cannons, that should stop them from shooting anymore plasma. But they have manned turrets on them, so we've still got to be careful about that. As for the Banshees, if you see one, take it down _immediately_. Those things are fast."

"I understand." Misaka said, looking towards the front and away from Cook. "Destroy the Covenant vehicles." She smiled despite the oncoming danger, a spark of electricity appearing above her forehead. Although there was a lot of danger involved, she actually felt _excited _about getting to use her powers on a new foe; and, this time, she doesn't have to hold back.

* * *

**Cole**

_Something still bothers me about when the 'espers' (as Lieutenant Saionji of the 105th reported) encountered the Banshee. An anti-tank round brought that Banshee down, and the round had come from in the same direction where the army's Sniper Team Alpha had been killed by enemy snipers three days prior. The only UNSC force in that area was Lieutenant Saionji, and he had been on his way to the 2nd's position from another direction._

_So, who had fired the rifle? Could it be possible that Alpha is still alive? No, that's impossible; they're still reading as KIA and they wouldn't have stayed there for three straight days. Then, is there a possibility that an ONI operative is out there; unlikely, despite the prowler up in orbit._

_Is it possible that a Spartan is on the playing field, then?_

_..._

_Insufficient information to come to a conclusion... Perhaps questioning these 'espers' will provide further light on the situation; _if _we are able to stave off the Covenant's assault._

"Cole, are the tanks repaired yet?"  
"They will reach minimum-efficiency within half-an-hour, captain."

"Ma'am! The Covenant have reached 1st and 2nd squads position; they're engaging, but the Wraiths are moving into a firing li- hold on, Charlie and Delta are engaging on their flanks! Recon Force Bravo is coming in from the front with... 'special artillery'?"  
"Explain."  
"They're reporting that... they have one of the civ-, espers with them!"  
"...Understood. Keep me informed."

* * *

**CPV-Class Heavy Destroyer _Ultimate Salvation_**

"The heretic's frigate is running from us, brother! It shall not face us in open battle; let us hunt it down and bring them a glorious death!"  
"Our shipmaster has spoken his orders. We are only to scare off the frigate from this area and await for his return; vengeance for the _Conviction _shall have to wait."  
"If we may not yet hunt the heretics down, then let us join in with our brother's assault on their base."  
"Remember your place, major. We are to not interfere; and neither has Field Marshal 'Sumee requested our assistance."  
"Yes... brother."

* * *

**Recon Force Bravo**

The Warthogs rounded the corner, allowing Misaka to catch sight of what made up the north-west area. She had seen the beginning of it before they had rounded the corner, but now she could see all of it. As far as she could see, it was just a field of dirt and pieces of rubble here and there. The buildings to the sides of the area were collapsed, for a good ways too. However, the field wasn't barren of life; a swarm of Covenant was moving across it, eight tanks, 'Wraiths', bringing up their rear.

Putting aside the out-of-place terrain, Misaka focused on their objective. "So, as soon as Charlie and Delta open up, we move in from behind those Wraiths and do what we can to destroy them?"

"That's right. They should be opening fire in three... two... one!" As soon as he finished saying that, two tank rounds suddenly slammed into one of the Wraiths, destroying it completely as small-arms fire broke out along the rubble to their left. "Alright, girl, summon up a lightning storm or whatever! We're moving in!"

Misaka nodded as the three Warthogs revved their engines and sped forward, standing up in her seat with one foot as she used her ability to keep her other foot rooted to the floor; and, at the same time, she clasped the bar in the middle of the hog with her hand.

_"This is Jefferson, Splatter Spree and I will provide a distraction and keep those Wraiths off of you; while they're turned, take 'em out!" _The voice came over the radio, referring to the two armed Warthogs.  
"Roger that _Jefferson_!"  
_"Take care of your esper, Sundae Driver."  
_"Will do, _Splatter Spree._"

Two Wraiths moved towards Delta Company, bringing their artillery to bear and sending two balls of scorching plasma into the air, one impacting against the rubble and another catching almost an entire squad. The third one continued forward, while the other three _much _farther off to the right started towards Charlie after having one of their own destroyed.

"Lightning, go!" Cook shouted as the other two Warthogs broke off, peppering the first Wraith with bullets and slugs and effectively attracting its attention. Misaka narrowed her eyes, summoning a large amount of electricity along her arm before letting it fly as a lightning bolt into what appeared to be the weak-spot of the Wraith: a small, rotating cylinder. The bolt slammed into the Wraith, and the next thing they knew it was going up in a dazzling explosion.

"Second one, second one!" Cook shouted, not taking a moment to stare in awe at such a little girl's power even though he was amazed by it. As he turned the hog, the second Wraith's driver was too distracted by his comrade's death and wasn't able to realize the situation until it was too late. Another bolt of lightning slammed into the tank, sending it up in flames just like the first one.

In the back, as they entered the tailing ranks of Covenant squads, Ryan was firing off quick, short bursts of fire, trying to keep the infantry from firing back. Of course, he was only one marine, so it didn't take long before their vehicle started getting sprayed with plasma bolts. Cook kept going, slamming into an Elite before sharply turning the hog to avoid a plasma grenade. As a few too many Elites started to run up from the front where the third Wraith was heading forward, Cook went right. "We're moving onto the fourth Wraith, Lightning. Charlie just lost one of their tanks and almost two squads worth of marines!"

"Right!" Misaka yelled as ducked back into her seat as Grunts started to pour into the Warthog's side. She sent a much weaker, yet still strong, bolt of lightning into the midst of them, not hitting any of them but making them scared enough to drop their pistols and start running away.

A slug came from behind, slamming into an Elite in their path. Looking back, Misaka caught sight of the Gauss Warthog coming up from their rear. At the same time, the Warthog's radio came back to life. _"This is Splatter Spree, we'll be covering you from behind. Good hunting, Sundae Driver."_

"Thanks for the assistance, _Splatter Spree._"  
_"No problem."_

"Lightning, back to work!" Cook called out, almost annoying Misaka just a little but the girl was too washed up in the excitement of it all to bother with it. She stood back up in her seat, watching as the Wraith started getting larger and larger. "Now-" Cook's voice cut off as the Wraith swerved around, bringing its cannon to bear. The driver had received word about the other two Wraiths, and he wasn't going to die like them.

Cook swerved hard to the right as the Wraith opened fire, jolting Misaka and Ryan both. The Gauss hog went to the left, the gunner taking a shot at the Wraith as the ball of plasma missed both hogs. "Take the shot!" Cook called out as the Wraith turned to target _Splatter Spree_; but, as Misaka was standing back up, a bolt of plasma slammed into the bar too close to her hand, washing it with intense heat.

Misaka cried out in pain, the gathered electricity along her arm shooting out too high and completely missing the Wraith. The Covenant tank boosted forward, almost ramming into _Splatter Spree. _It turned, firing its cannon and barely missing the hog that swerved to the right. However, the fifth Wraith was speeding forward, joining its brother in the fight as it fired. The plasma enveloped the hog and its two occupants, Misaka watching in horror as it went up in a ball of flame.

"Again!" Cook shouted as he started back towards the left, gritting his teeth as he tore his eyes away from a sight he has already seen far too many times. Misaka snapped out of her shock, anger enveloping her as electricity sparked all along her body, with an intense amount concentrated around her arm. As the fourth Wraith turned to them and as the fifth started turning back towards Charlie, Misaka cried out as a large bolt of lightning speared across the distance and right into the very center of the Wraith, right where the driver would be.

The Wraith dropped to the ground, an explosion soon bursting it into flames. The fifth Wraith immediately turned back to them and boosted forward, speeding pass its brother and firing off a blast of plasma. Cook was about to move to the right when he caught sight of two incoming Banshees. "Lightning, up high!" He called out as he pressed down on the pedal, speeding forward and managing to outrun the plasma mortar's arc.

Misaka, panting slightly, looked away from the Wraith and to the Banshees, gritting her teeth as she summoned more electricity. As the Banshees started to open fire on the Warthog, Misaka sent two bolts towards them at the same time. One of the bolts caught the first Banshee straight on, exploding into it and sending it to the ground; the second bolt slammed into the aft side of the second Banshee, only damaging it and not bringing it down. As the Banshee reoriented itself after an evasion maneuver, two anti-tank rounds from _Jefferson _brought it down right on top of the fifth Wraith, both of them going up in flames.

"Two mor-" Cook began after looking back at the explosion; but, as soon as he faced forwards after only a moment, he caught sight of the third Wraith which was _way _too close. "Bail!" He shouted as the Wraith fired, the plasma exploding right beside them from the short distance the tank was away. As Ryan flew out of the back, Cook pushed Misaka out as the vehicle flipped.

* * *

Misaka came to only minutes later, the sound of gunfire all around her. The first thing she saw was Ryan, the man laying on the ground only feet away, facing her. A puddle of blood was underneath him, and his open eyes were lifeless. Misaka's eyes widened in terror; and, as she moved to reach him, something brushed against her leg. Trembling with fright, she looked over and saw what had touched her. A white-armored Elite was laying right beside her, a puddle of his own blood underneath him, his hand still reaching out for her even in death.

It didn't take a moment to realize that Ryan and the Elite had killed each other over her, and her body was just _frozen stiff _until something in her peripheral vision caught her eye. Misaka looked towards the front, catching sight of not only the Warthog just several meters away from her, but also a Wraith behind it. As she watched, an orange-armored Elite climbed into it and drove the tank off.

She didn't know what to think about that, and she didn't dwell on it any longer when she caught sight of Cook laying on the ground beside the Warthog. He looked over towards her, a relieved look on his face. However, before he or she could say anything, an Elite in maroon armor, standing at most _nine_ feet, rounded the vehicle. Cook glanced up in a panic, his hand going for his sidearm, but the Elite was quicker. The alien's hand went around the marine's neck, lifting him up by it as his other hand activated an energy sword.

Misaka could only watch as the sword went through Cook's midsection, stopping the marine's struggling. **"A worthy adversary..." **The Elite chuckled as it let the marine's body fall to the ground before turning to her, **"as worthy as insects can get." **It finished, starting to walk up to her.

Misaka's fist clenched, a tear falling down her cheek as her body trembled. Her ears didn't hear the sound of gunfire anymore, and her eyes only saw the Elite and Cook's dead body. The Elite continued to draw its sword back as it started to reach her. **"Your destruction is the will of the gods," **He stopped above the trembling human, giving the Sangheili equivalent of a smile, **"and we are their instrume-!"**

A powerful bolt of lightning shot up into the darkening sky, catching the attention of nearly every soldier fighting out there. Thunder clouds appeared above the battleground, lightning sparking amongst them as an Elite Field Marshall fell to the ground with a scorching hole in his chest. A shaking girl stood up onto her feet, electricity sparking in a wide radius around her. She looked with wide eyes at Cook, at Ryan's bloody body, and at the murderous aliens all around her.

She screamed; in shock, in terror, in anger...

Rather intentional or not, lightning rained down upon the field. It disrupted Covenant formations, striking shields of Elites off and sending Grunts running in every direction. The remaining Wraiths and Banshee were caught up in it all, exploding into fiery balls of flames. Marines looked on in amazement for a brief moment before recuperating and pouring into the disorganized aliens, Scorpions shooting explosive shells into Covenant squads who attempted to regroup.

But the Covenant closest to the cause of the lightning, not mattering if they were Grunts, Jackals, or Elites... they ran as some were struck by lightning, just wanting to get away from such a never-before-seen terror. In the center of it all, Misaka stood with tears running down her eyes. "I'm... sorry..." She muttered as a large lightning bolt exploded into the ground nearby, sending dirt flying in every which way.

As she stood there, something caught her eye. She looked over to the side, catching sight of an Elite running towards her in the distance, closing the distance far faster than any human could. She gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, sending a bolt of lightning straight at him. But, to her amazement, he dodged to the side just as she fired, the lightning completely missing him.

Misaka cried out in hard effort as she took control of the lightning storm and aimed it at the one Elite who refused to just get away from her! The silver-armored alien swiftly kept changing his approach pattern, every single bolt missing him. She clenched her fists and let go of the storm, running forward and taking out an arcade token. She stopped within fifty meters of him, lifting the token up and gathering the necessary power. When there was enough, she let the token propel forward; but, just like before, he just moved ever-so slightly to the side right before she used her railgun.

Realizing her attack failed, she gathered electricity between her hands, preparing to send a full-on blast at him. However, she wasn't fast enough; the Elite, drawing his sword back under his left arm, was already upon her. The electricity dissipated as she tried to duck, the sword going _right _above her hair before something suddenly hit her in her stomach and sent her flying several feet away, blood coming out of her mouth.

As soon as she opened her eyes, a hand went around her throat, cutting off her air supply and bringing her face-to-face to the Elite. He wasn't smiling like the ones before him, but that didn't matter to Misaka. Her hands went to his, anger, fright, and grief in her eyes as she looked at him. "Bye." She muttered.

The Elite's eyes widened at the comment, as if he realized what she was going to do; and, to her surprise, he _did_ know. The alien released her, jumping back just before Misaka could electrocute him. He grabbed his strange rifle, bringing it to bear just as Misaka brought a token up. She was quicker, and her railgun slammed into the weapon, sending it flying out of his grasp and rendering it useless.

As they both started at each other, she summoning her electricity for another attack and he drawing back his sword to the right, Misaka's electricity suddenly sparked and dissipated, the girl dropping down onto her knee. She held a hand to her forehead as her vision got hazy. She couldn't see clearly, and exhaustion was sweeping over her body along with the pain in her midsection. She couldn't help but to fall down to the ground, her eyes slowly closing.

The last thing she heard... was this: **"All forces, this is Shipmaster Kora 'Koramai. Pull back."**


	4. Headquarters

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun or Halo, or Index.**

* * *

**Misaka**

_Cook's body hung suspended in the air, the blue sword of plasma through his midsection as the Elite held him by the neck. The alien drew back his sword and released the dead marine, the corpse falling down to its knees before keeling over to the side. He now looked over towards Misaka, taking his time with long strides over to her. A yell suddenly sounded, the alien's shields flaring as they absorbed damage. Ryan was running up to the Elite, firing off wildly as he desperately tried to protect her; but the alien lifted up a weapon that shot large, pink needles into the man's chest._

_Ryan fell down to the ground, blood seeping out of his wounds. Misaka tried to scoot back away from the Elite, but it was futile... he just kept walking up to her until he stood right above her. He threw his gun down to the side, drawing his sword back as she watched in terror, unable to do anything. Her current wouldn't flow; she was going to get killed! The girl threw her hands up in front of her, her only method of protection._

_Then, a hand suddenly went around her neck from behind, the Elite in front of her pausing. As Misaka was lifted up into the air, as her hands went to the hand that held her, she looked behind her and saw the silver-armored Elite from before. An activated sword was held in his free hand and he was drawing it back as she looked into his eyes._

_When she heard deep-throated chuckling in front of her, her eyes snapped back to the maroon-armored Elite. He lunged towards her, and the last thing she saw was a flash of blue._

* * *

**Unknown**

Misaka's eyes shot open before squinting when she found herself looking directly into a bright, white light. She raised her arm to shield herself from the light; and, as she did that, she realized that she wasn't feeling particularly scared from her dream. She had had a nightmare, yet she didn't feel so... terribly frightened. Shaken, yes, but that was all. She had been right between two sword-wielding aliens, and then there was that flash of blue... the blue of a sword. Without a doubt, she had to have been skewered in her dream; yet, why didn't she feel frightened?

Misaka sat up, rubbing her eye with her free arm when she suddenly caught sight of what she was wearing. They were pajamas, but not just any regular old pajamas; they were pink with _cute _flowers all over it. Her cheeks went red, her mind focusing on the cuteness of it; and... and she was wearing them!

Before she could focus more on how cute the pajamas were, the girl noticed that the left side of her body was unnaturally warm. Looking over, she saw Shirai _right _there, embracing her entire side with her head resting against her arm. Then, she saw that Shirai was wearing the same kind of pajamas as she was and her face turned redder. Not because it made Shirai look cute, but because there were two sets of _cute _pajamas!

At that moment, Shirai stirred, her eyes slowly opening from their slumber. "Onee-sama...?"  
"Kuro-"

Before she could even finish saying the girl's name, Shirai suddenly leaned forward and pressed her lips against Misaka's own. "Good morn-" Misaka's fist came down on top of the redhead's head, the girl eliciting a soft cry of pain.

"G-g-good morning my butt!" Misaka cried, the tips of her ears red. "Wh-what do you think you're doing, Ku-Kuroko!? That was my first kiss!" She exclaimed, her loud voice laced with embarrassment as she held her arm over her mouth.

"I couldn't help it, onee-sama!" Shirai cried out, looking up at her as she still rubbed her head. "You've been lying there without waking up for an entire week, and, when you finally woke up, I just couldn't help myself!" Her hands went to her red cheeks as she got _that _look in her eyes. "Ah, but your lips were so delicious! I don't know if I can-"

"Wait, what did you say?"  
"Hm? About your lips?"

Misaka hit Shirai again. "No! What did you say about me not waking up for a week!?" There's no way she could have been out for an entire _week_, right? Surely Shirai didn't mean it, right; she was just exaggerating, right?

"Exactly like I said, onee-sama." Shirai rubbed her head some more now that there was another bump on it. "You've been unconscious ever since the lightning storm that you caused," A bit of drool started to come out of her mouth, "but don't worry, I've been sleeping together with you _every _night to help you recover." More drool came out of her mouth as she started to get lost in her own little world. "Your warm body against mine, my head peacefully resting on your arm, and the soft feel of your breast in my han-"

Misaka kicked Shirai off of the bed, her face as red as it could get. "Your brain is definitely broken!" As she buttoned up a button on her pajamas which _should _have been buttoned, she looked over the side of the bed. "Anyways, how could I be out for an entire week?"

Instead of Shirai answering, someone else did. "My theory is that you went beyond the limits of your power and continued to overexert yourself until you finally passed out from the exhaustion of overusing your ability that was being placed upon you." A voice said to Misaka's right, speaking in Japanese and causing the brunette to look over at who had spoken. She caught sight of a holographic, female marine with her hair up in a ponytail.

"Who... are you?" Misaka asked the woman, a little surprised at seeing a holographic figure. It is one piece of technology Academy City doesn't have.

She smiled at the brunette. "My name is Cole. I am an Artificial Intelligence, or AI, of the United Nations Space Command. I am currently stationed with the 77th Marines Division's 1st Battalion's Bravo Company. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Misaka-san."

"Um... yeah." Misaka blinked. _An Artificial Intelligence? Academy City doesn't have any of those either..._  
"A lot has happened while you've been sleeping." Shirai said as she stood up.

"Well, I wouldn't say 'a lot', Shirai-san." Cole began, glancing over at Shirai. "Covenant activity has been fairly low since the day you and your friends showed up; they haven't attempted another assault on the 90th or any other major, or even minor, holding or force of ours. Along with that, their fleet has momentarily ceased chasing our own ships, giving us ample time to refuel, repair, and rearm."

Misaka took the time that the AI, Cole, was speaking to Shirai to look around the room, noticing that she was inside of an empty infirmary. Beds were lined up in rows, and it was pretty spacious; cabinets sat up against the walls along with other medical equipment, but there weren't any doctors or nurses in the room. It was just her, Shirai, and Cole who was standing on top of some pedestal.

"Where am I?"  
"Battalion Headquarters. This place used to be Company Headquarters, but the _Waysider _was able to load off the rest of the battalion after the Covenant Destroyer departed."  
"Headquarters?" Misaka blinked, looking around the room once more. "Where are Uiharu and Saten?"  
"Uiharu-san is currently in Ops and Saten-san is at the firing range."

She slowly turned her head to look at Cole, a bit of confusion evident in her expression. "Ops? Firing range?"  
"Like I said, onee-sama," Shirai spoke up from behind, attracting the brunette's attention, "a lot has happened."

"I've informed Uiharu-san and Saten-san that you've awaken, Misaka-san, so they should be here shortly." Cole's face suddenly turned serious instead of staying the friendly expression it had on it before hand. "Now, as your friends are on the way, can you answer a question we have?"

At that moment the door opened up, Lieutenant Saionji stepping into the room dressed in full ODST BDU with the only thing missing being his helmet. "Misaka-san." Saionji gave a curt nod to her before walking up to stand in front of her, giving a glance over at Cole. "I'll take it from here, Cole. Thank you."

"All yours, helljumper." The marine AI gave a salute before disappearing.

"What is it that you want to know?" Misaka asked as she looked into the brown eyes of the soldier, eyes that seemed tired and war-weary. His expression was a battle-hardened one, and spoke of years of experience beyond his age.

"A week ago we engaged the Covenant in a defensive battle to protect HQ. During the battle, after half of the enemy artillery was destroyed, there was a lightning storm that destroyed the remaining Covenant vehicles, placed the entire Covenant army into disarray, and caused a city-wide blackout that affected everything that wasn't EMP-proofed. We know it was you, but that's not what we're wondering about. One of our snipers reported seeing you engage a silver-armored Elite immediately after the storm; however, he only caught a glimpse of it. When we investigated, we found you lying on the ground, slightly injured and heavily exhausted." He leaned forward, his gaze hard. "What happened?"

Misaka thought back to it, remembering the entire battle. The Wraiths, Ryan's dead body, Cook getting killed right in front of her, the Elite... and then the lightning storm where she had used her full power. Then, there was that one Elite... the one with the silver armor...

**"Kora 'Koramai..." **Misaka whispered mostly to herself, repeating the last thing she had heard.  
"Wh-what...?" The ODST muttered, taking a step back, his eyes wide open in shock.  
"We fought, the Elite using his energy sword and me using my ability. I... passed out during the fight, and that's the last thing I heard. He said for all forces to pull back."

Cole appeared back on the pedestal, her eyes wide as she stayed silent for a full two seconds, an incredibly long time for a Smart AI like herself. Finally, she 'cleared her throat' and spoke up. "Misaka-san, you passed out in front of an Elite?" At Misaka's nod, she continued. "That is... how should I put this..."

"How are you still alive...?"

* * *

**Covenant-Held City of Klaxon**

Gunnery Sergeant Drain peered out of the window, frowning when he caught sight of a Covenant transport passing by, carrying with it a couple of Shades. "They've sure been building up their defense; it's going to be harder to break out of this blasted city." Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a figure coming up from the basement. "How are your wounds?"

The woman looked straight into his eyes with her own, hardened, blue eyes. "I can fight, sir."

"I _asked _you how your wounds are." He repeated, his voice the same as if he was giving an order.  
The woman didn't so much as blink. "It will take another two days for me to fully heal; however, I am still able-"

Drain looked away from her, looking out at the now clear street instead. "You look tired, get some rest."  
"Sir-"  
"That was an order."  
"...Yes sir."

The woman turned back around, heading down the stairs without another word. Once she was back down into the basement the squad was taking shelter in, Drain turned to look over at Corporal Kaiser standing with him in the room. "Kaiser, go down there and make sure she gets some actual sleep. Oh, and while you're at it, check on Okahara and the others."

"Understood sir." With that, the corporal followed after her.

Drain sighed, sitting down on the floor with his back up against the wall and his MA5B cradled in his hands. In two long days they could finally get out of this city...

* * *

**Battalion Headquarters**

"What... do you mean?" Misaka asked, a bit stunned at Saionji's rather blunt question. How was she still alive? What kind of question was that to ask someone who had just been fighting for her life!?

Saionji's hand clutched at his left arm as his expression grew grim. "Special Operations Commander Kora 'Koramai." He turned so that his side was facing her as he looked off to the side. "My squad and I faced him five years ago onboard the heavy cruiser _Autumn Wind_. It was just him, and he _slaughtered _everything in his path, including my squadmates. With only my combat knife I fought and ran from him to keep him from the bridge; but, I could only last so long..." His hand gripped his arm tighter.

"It took two Spartans to get him off of that ship, and they showed up in the nick of time. He held out even against them for awhile, inflicting heavy injuries before they finally managed to drive him off of the cruiser." Saionji looked back towards her, the pain of the past in his eyes. "So, how are you still alive? He mustn't have gotten any blows in, because you'd be dead; but why did he leave you alone when you passed out?"

Misaka looked down at the ground, her hand going to her stomach. "But... he did get a blow in."  
Saionji blinked, wide-eyed. "What?"  
"He kicked me right in the stomach, throwing me back and to the ground."

Saionji was silent, not believing what the brunette was saying. An Elite had enough strength to dent a Spartan's armor with a single kick, and Kora had done such a thing on the _Autumn Wind_. If the Elite really did kick Misaka, _how _was she still alive? It doesn't make sense.

"Hold on," Cole began, looking as confused as Saionji, "you said he told his forces to pull back, yes?"  
"That's right."  
The AI looked at Saionji as he realized the same thing. "Why would he order his forces in English?"

_Silence._

_Dead silence._

Then, before anyone could try to answer that question, the door to the infirmary opened and Uiharu and Saten came walking into the room. Saten was wearing something quite similar to what Cook and the other marines had been wearing, and Uiharu had on a different uniform with no pieces of armor attached to it. Misaka was more joyed at seeing them safe and sound than wondering about their appearance.

"Miss Misaka!  
"Misaka!"

The two girls cried out, both running past Saionji and taking to either side of Misaka. First her left arm was taken ahold of by Saten, then Uiharu embraced her right arm, and, finally, Shirai was placing her arms around her neck. Being hugged by her friends all at once made her feel slightly... awkward. No, that was just because Shirai was being too touchy with how her hands were moving around.

"We were so worried about you, Miss Misaka," Uiharu began, looking into Misaka's eyes with her own teary ones, "when they first brought you back, we thought you were hurt badly. Then, when you kept sleeping and sleeping without waking up, we kept getting more worried as the days went on."

"Yeah, Uiharu's right!" Saten added, smiling at Misaka. "Shirai even went out into the city to get you some pajamas, thinking that wearing something cute might help you recover faster. She didn't even care that they tried to keep her from leaving; she just teleported straight out of here!"

"Well, we don't have any countermeasures against teleporters; but, I did send in a request to the eggheads, so it's only a matter of time." Cole joked before looking over at Saionji, watching as he left the room without a word. Deciding to give the girls some privacy, she also disappeared from her pedestal, though she couldn't help but to eavesdrop.

"Really, Kuroko?" Misaka asked, glancing behind her at Shirai's red face.  
Shirai looked away, a little embarrassed at having been caught. "Y-yes... onee-sama..."  
Misaka smiled at her. "Thanks."  
Shirai's face reddened even more.

Misaka turned her head away from Shirai, turning her attention back onto Uiharu and Saten. "I'm glad that you're all safe, but, what's with those uniforms?"

"It's the fashion trend around here." Saten joked, releasing Misaka's arm and taking a step back to show off her outfit. "I'm wearing a smaller version of what the marines wear, and Uiharu is wearing what the operation officers wear. We just got them yesterday."

"Um... why?"  
Saten smiled, her hands clasping behind her back as she leaned forwards. "A lot has happened while you've been asleep, Misaka."

"Everyone has been telling me that." Misaka said, giving a soft sigh. She wondered what exactly her friends meant by 'a lot has happened', and she was about to ask about it, but she suddenly remembered something. She turned to Uiharu who had yet to release her embrace, just like Shirai. "Does that mean you've found out where the teleporter is?"

Uiharu blinked, looking into Misaka's eyes again before releasing the brunette's arm. "Yes, we have." She said, glancing over at Shirai and Saten who were looking towards her.  
"That's great," Misaka said, not noticing the change in mood, "where is it?"

"It's..." Uiharu took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling before continuing, "on the other side of the planet, in a Covenant-held city named Klaxon."


	5. Their Decision

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun, or Halo, or Index.**

******A/N: Uiharu wearing what the Company Officers wear, not Operation Officers - ********Thank you, Icesquall.**

******The below is a non-canon timeline of what happened without ACSR (and my) interference; Timeline with ACSR interference will be at the end of the chapter. So you can see what differences Misaka and Co. (along with others) make.**

* * *

******Unspecified Date in September: The UNSC forces stationed at the colony world of Ballast detect a signal emanating from deep space; however, before they can dispatch the frigates UNSC _Judgelight _and the UNSC _Dear My Friend_ to investigate, they detect an anomaly that alerts them to an imminent Covenant invasion. Evacuations begin as the UNSC fleet prepares for combat.**

******Twenty-three hours later, before the Covenant's main force arrives, 3 SDV-Class Heavy Corvettes emerge out of slipspace. The UNSC fleet totaling 8 ships, including the UNSC Phoenix-Class Colony ship _Sister's Noise_, the UNSC Marathon-Class Heavy Destroyer _Real Force_, the UNSC Destroyers _Only My MAC _and _Future Gazer, _the UNSC Paris-Class Heavy Frigates _Special One _and _Judgelight_, and the UNSC Charon-Class Light Frigates _Waysider _and _Dear My Friend _catch the corvettes by surprise and destroy two of them, _Rising Faith _and _Pious Esteem_.**

******As the UNSC _Special One _moves in to take out the heavily damaged _Seeker of Penance_, ********a Covenant fleet consisting of 20 ships, including 2 DDS-Class Carriers, 5 CCS-Class Battlecruisers, 4 CRS-Class Light Cruisers, 1 CPV-Class Heavy Destroyer, and 8 frigates emerge out of slipspace. The _Special One _is caught in the middle of the fleet and is soon destroyed.**

******Instead of engaging the Covenant fleet head-on, Admiral Standingwater of the UNSC _Real Force _orders for the fleet to disperse across Ballast. The UNSC Destroyers _Only My MAC _and _Future Gazer _provide screening for the retreating fleet, taking heavy damage (with other UNSC ships taking light to moderate damage) before entering Ballast's atmosphere. The fleet disperses across Ballast, using it's mountainous landscape to hide the UNSC _Sister's Noise_ and elude, and destroy, Covenant ships later on in the long battle as they assist their forces groundside whenever possible.**

* * *

**Fleet of _Conscientious_ _Deliverance_**

**CCS-Class Battlecruiser _Tenacious Retribution_**

Special Operations Commander Kora 'Koramai stepped out through the doors of the bridge, catching sight of Ultra Jun 'Chavamee, shipmaster of the CCS-Class Battlecruiser _Valorous Truth_, waiting for him. Without a word, Jun walked side-by-side with Kora as they headed towards the hanger where their dropships waited for them. The other shipmasters had already departed, so they were alone; and, with no crewmembers in their path, they were free to speak without being overheard.

"News, my brother?" Jun asked the slightly taller Sangheili, glancing over at Kora who had just been speaking with the Fleet Master of _Conscientious Deliverance_. There had been a calling for all shipmasters to come together for a special meeting, and, even though all the others were already heading off, Kora had been speaking with the Fleet Master for the past half-unit.

"Fleet Master 'Rithinee has permitted all forces to maintain and improve defensive positions, and has declared that any offensive maneuver is forbidden following the demise of Field Marshall 'Sumee seven cycles ago and the deaths of the Zealots during the last cycle." Kora answered, not returning Jun's look. "The appearance of the Stormbringer, along with the appearance of a similar being who summons fire at will, has made him weary."

Jun gave a curt nod before looking away from Kora, his expression deathly serious. "While you were advising 'Rithinee, I received most unpleasant tidings."  
"Continue."

"Our brethren in the fleets of _Profound Solitude, Tranquil Composure, _and_ Inner Knowledge_ have all been replaced with _**B**_**_rutes_**." Jun had taken a liking to the human term for the Jiralhanae ever since he first found out what it meant; it... _fit_. "Do the holy ones think us unworthy of leading the might of the Covenant; or are their eyes just blind to the crudeness of the Jiralhanae?" His hand clenched into a fist.

"Such speech sounds of heresy, _brother_." Kora said, giving the shipmaster a stern look.  
"Forgive me," Jun replied, his eyes glancing around to see if anyone else had overheard, "it is just that I had a brother of my own blood in the fleet of _Inner Knowledge_. He was reassigned from the shipmaster of a battlecruiser to a mere _corvette_."  
"It is not wise to let your emotions rule your tongue."  
"As always, you are right."

Without another word, the two continued down the halls. Before too long, they came upon the hanger, Kora starting to head for his Phantom; before he could get far, though, Jun stopped him. With a look between them, Kora nodded and started back walking, Jun now beside him as the Sangheili ordered his own Spirit to depart to the _Ultimate Salvation_ andwithout him.

Once onboard the Phantom, Kora ordered the Kig-Yar pilot to disembark before turning to Jun, waiting for his questions in the empty troop bay. Jun didn't waste anytime now that he was finally alone with Kora for the first time in ten cycles. "Brother, I wish to speak to you about this... 'Stormbringer'."

"Have you read the report?"

"Yes, I have. During the assault on the humans' base, Wraith after Wraith were destroyed by an unarmed Warthog whose passenger was using _lightning_. Field Marshall 'Sumee engaged and brought the Warthog down, but was killed by the... this Stormbringer. You yourself then engaged the human; however, it soon fled. Instead of chasing after it, you had all our remaining forces pull back and regroup before ordering a return to 'Sumee's base." Jun crossed his arms, giving the Sangheili equivalent of a smile. "How much is true, brother?"

"Stormbringer passed out in the midst of our duel, right after she shot my rifle out of my hands with some... _coin_."  
"She?"  
"Yes, a human female; a young one, I believe."  
"And this lightning... did she control it using some device?"

Kora picked out an object from his belt and held it out to Jun, showing off the small, green device. "After searching her I found only this _communications _device. She controlled the lightning without any aid; directing it at will wherever she wanted it to hit."

Jun took the device, studying it as he spoke. "Even Demons do not control lightning; are we... really dealing with another human? What if she's... something else." He snapped his head back up to look into Kora's eyes. "What if the gods granted her her power? Able to bend and shape nature to one's will. It is surely a god's power."  
"Why a human, then?"  
"I do not know for certain, but could it be possible that this is a message? What if the gods are granting humans these powers to stave off their inevitable extinction because they are to _live _and _thrive_?"  
"I do concede that I find it strange that the Prophets did not offer them a choice to join the Covenant like all the other races; but such a thing as gods granting power strikes me not."

"Then, what do you believe?"  
"Believe? I'm not sure. I question myself if Stormbringer is even human to begin with... and also Teleporter."  
"Teleporter? There is a human who can _teleport_?"  
"Yes, herself and other objects. I shall tell you the entire story when we have more time, but I'm afraid that I would not be able to finish before we reached my ship."  
"Then, about them not even being human...?"  
"Yes, their powers make me believe they are something entirely different. As for what, I'm not certain."

Jun fiddled with the device absentmindedly as he focused on what all Kora had just told him. As he thought about these different humans, he managed to flip the device open without meaning to. His eyes glanced down at it, confusion and surprise lighting in them as he saw _Sangheili _script on the screen. It didn't take him long to realize what had been done to it. "You had a Huragok look at it?"

"That is correct. When I first returned to my ship with the device, I had no way of knowing what it was. Giving it to one of the creatures, he improved it and, at my request, made the words readable along with telling me what it really was. After I asked the right question, that is."  
"What all is it capable of?"  
"Standard communications, along with some... _**photo **_taking device and video recording."  
**"Photo?"**

Kora nodded, taking the device back and fiddling around with it. After remembering how to work it from the demonstration the Huragok had given him, the Sangheili finally found what he was looking for. Lifting the device up at a curious Jun, he pressed a button, fiddled around with it a little more, and handed it back to Jun who looked at the screen with surprise. He was looking at himself just a few moments prior; not a mirror where he could see his reflection, but a still moment captured from the past.

"What does this button do?" He asked as he pressed his thumb against one of the buttons with a little difficulty. Instantly, he found himself looking at a photo of, no doubt, the Huragok that had messed with the device. "I suppose you use this button to browse through this collection of _**photos**._" Jun pressed the button once more and now saw something entirely different. Instead of, say, a trio of Grunts posing for a photo on top of each other, he saw four young human females clustered in close together for a photo.

Jun looked up at Kora, holding the device out to him. "Brother, are these the humans?"  
Kora blinked, a bit of surprise showing itself in his eyes for a moment, but only a moment. "Yes, the one with the brown fur is Stormbringer. Red fur is Teleporter. As for the other two, they have shown no powers."  
Jun took another look at the photo, studying it closely. "So this is what we are dealing with..."

_"Shipmaster, we have arrived."_

Jun handed the device back over to Kora. "Until next time."  
"Yes, brother."

* * *

**Battalion Headquarters**

Misaka blinked, a bit surprised by what Uiharu had told her. "On the other side of the planet?" She took a look around the room at the other girls, a look of concern forming on her face. "And by Covenant-held... you mean it's crawling with those aliens?" At their silence, she sighed softly and looked down into her lap.

"Fortunately," Uiharu began after a few moments, Misaka looking up at her as she continued, "the UNSC, the military, has offered to help us."  
"They have?"  
"However," Shirai began, drawing the brunette's attention, "in turn for helping us, they want us to help them with our abilities."  
"You mean... they want us to fight for them?"

Shirai walked up to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it as she looked into her onee-sama's eyes. "That's right, onee-sama. Here in this _world _espers have never, and do not, exist. No one has any psychic abilities; so, what you did out there, what I do, they've never seen it before... and neither has this Covenant. They, the UNSC, _humanity_, has been at war with this collection of alien races for twenty-seven straight years now."

Misaka's eyes widened in shock, not believing what she had just heard. "For... _twenty-seven _years?"  
Shirai nodded, a somber look on her face. "Yes, onee-sama."

"Misaka-san," Uiharu began, only continuing when Misaka had turned her head to look at her, "we landed in a different... reality from our own. In 2525, after colonizing numerous planets across the galaxy, humanity came into contact with a collective of alien races that refer to themselves as The Covenant. The year is currently 2552, and many planets have been... burned; or, as they call it, _glassed_."

"Everyone gets caught up in the war," Saten said, getting Misaka's attention onto her as Uiharu didn't seem able to bear to continue the sad tale, "it doesn't matter if you're part of the military or just a regular civilian; it doesn't matter how young or how old you are. These aliens have been _murdering _every human they come across, without any mercy."

The door to the infirmary suddenly opened, a tall woman dressed in a decorated BDU walking through it and arresting all four of the girls' attention. Shirai, Uiharu, and Saten all straightened up, standing facing her. "Captain." The girls said almost in unison, and saying it in English except for Saten.

The woman gave a curt nod to the three girls before walking up to Misaka, stopping before the bed. "Misaka Mikoto, I am Bravo Company's commanding officer, Captain Jay S. Prock. What your friends have just told you is all true. I personally don't like the idea of having middle-school girls fight our battles myself, but your and Shirai's abilities could very well turn the tide and save many lives."

Misaka looked down for a moment, various thoughts racing through her mind. A twenty-seven year long war, burning planets, murdering aliens... _How many humans have been killed just like Cook and Ryan?_ _This is... dangerous; our lives will be in danger if we fight... but, even if we don't fight, our lives will still be in danger._

"If you do fight alongside us," Prock began, getting the brunette's attention back onto her, "we will make an attempt to retrieve the device that brought you here. I can't promise anything, though. Klaxon is the capital city and was the first city targeted; and the Covenant have occupied it, turning it into an impenetrable fortress. If you don't help us, you may never be able to go back until the Covenant has been routed from the planet, and that rarely happens.

"However, if you do, we will have a much better chance of breaking through and retrieving it. But don't get the wrong idea, that device is not our first priority; at best, it's a secondary objective. I'll be back in an hour for your answer; I expect you to think carefully about it." Prock turned her back, heading out of the infirmary but stopped in the doorway. "Your friends have already agreed to help, Misaka."

Prock stepped out, the door closing behind her as she headed down the hallway, passing a certain ODST on the way. "I see tact is still not in your dictionary, captain."  
"That's all that I had to say; simple and straight to the point, lieutenant."  
"A bit too straight in my mind, but you're the CO."  
"Just remember that you're responsible for them; you _are _the one who suggested this."  
"I knew that if I didn't, you or someone else would have; besides, I wanted to take the responsibility if this was going to happen anyways."

"Very well." With that, Prock continued back towards the command center, leaving Lieutenant Saionji leaning against the wall.

* * *

Back in the infirmary, Misaka was looking up at her friends. "You... already agreed?" She asked them, finding the answer to why Uiharu and Saten were wearing uniforms. She was surprised, but she wasn't really in disbelief. After all, if she were to find out that aliens were murdering all of humanity... she'd...

"Shirai was the first one to agree, and Uiharu followed right after her. If my friends were going to help them, I wanted to too." Saten smiled before moving up behind Uiharu, wrapping her arms around the girl's shoulders. "Besides, I don't want to see my friends get hurt while I stand by and do nothing!" She was looking at Uiharu with a smile that slightly made the flowers-in-her-hair girl nervous.

"Saten-san..." Uiharu whispered, her cheeks a little red. She looked over at Misaka, smiling as she glanced at Shirai for a moment. "It may be dangerous, but we want to help."

"Even if we have to put our lives on the line, onee-sama," Shirai began, looking into her eyes, "besides, I already knew what you would do. After all, standing by when people are getting hurt and killed just isn't like you."

"Kuroko..." Misaka said softly, a smile forming on her face. "You know... it really bugs me..." She got out of the bed, standing up onto her feet and turning towards the door, "with how well you know me."

As her onee-sama walked up to the door, Shirai couldn't help but to look at her with pride and affection intermingled. "Captain Prock, an hour is too long. All my onee-sama needs is just a couple of minutes." She whispered to herself, smiling as she watched the girl, the electromaster, _the railgun_.

"Uiharu," Misaka called, looking back at the girl who was trying to get Saten off of her, "can you show me to the captain, please?"  
Uiharu and Saten stopped, looking over at Misaka and both smiling. "Yes!" Uiharu exclaimed in earnest as she pulled away from Saten and headed up to Misaka's side.

* * *

******Unspecified Date in September: The UNSC forces stationed at the colony world of Ballast detect a signal emanating from deep space; and, soon after, they detect an anomaly groundside that keeps them from noticing an anomaly warning them of an imminent Covenant invasion. The frigates UNSC _Judgelight _and the UNSC _Dear My Friend _are sent to investigate, departing on a long voyage.**

******Twenty-three hours later, ********3 SDV-Class Heavy Corvettes emerge out of slipspace. The UNSC fleet totaling 6 ships, including the UNSC Phoenix-Class Colony ship _Sister's Noise_, the UNSC Marathon-Class Heavy Destroyer _Real Force_, the UNSC Destroyers _Only My MAC _and _Future Gazer, _the UNSC Paris-Class Heavy Frigate _Special One_ and the UNSC Charon-Class Light Frigate _Waysider _engage, destroying two corvettes, ********_Rising Faith _and _Pious Esteem_.**

******The UNSC fleet and the remaining corvette, _Seeker of Penance_, pull back. Before they can engage once more, a ********Covenant fleet consisting of 20 ships, including 2 DDS-Class Carriers, 5 CCS-Class Battlecruisers, 4 CRS-Class Light Cruisers, 1 CPV-Class Heavy Destroyer, and 8 frigates emerge out of slipspace.**

******Instead of engaging the Covenant fleet head-on, Admiral Standingwater of the UNSC _Real Force _orders for the fleet to disperse across Ballast. The UNSC Destroyers _Only My MAC _and _Future_ Gazer, along with the UNSC _Special One _provide screening for the retreating fleet. The _Special One_ takes the brunt of the fire and is overwhelmed; however, the Destroyers take only light to moderate damage (with other UNSC ships taking only light damage) before entering Ballast's atmosphere. ********The fleet disperses across Ballast, using it's mountainous landscape to hide the UNSC _Sister's Noise_ and elude, and destroy, Covenant ships later on in the long battle as they deploy their forces groundside.**


	6. Revaluation

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun, or Halo, or Index.**

* * *

**Unspecified Date in September:**** Shortly after the Covenant invasion, the 1st Battalion of the 77th Marines Division, assisted by ODSTs, engages Covenant forces in and around Dustin City, fighting to a stand still as the capital city of Klaxon comes under siege.**

**Meanwhile, the 90th Marines Division comes under assault at their central headquarters located around a large, unidentified alien structure situated in a highly strategic location amongst the mountains.**

******Covenant warships nearing the location do not fire on the 90th or the UNSC warships over the building, even when fired upon. Instead, they build a large base opposite of the 90th's location and use that position to continue to assault the UNSC.**

* * *

******Covenant-Held City of Klaxon**

A teenager with spiky black hair and a small beard on his chin sat up against the wall, holding his palm up and watching the flames hovering above it. His eyes narrowed as he clenched his fist, putting out the flames before looking up at the ceiling. One week is how long he and his friends have been in this world, and it is a miracle that they are still alive after having landed in the midst of _aliens_. If those soldiers hadn't been around, they'd be dead.

His fists tightened, Ryouta not noticing the pain as his fingernails dug into his palms. _This world is the place where the device sent us, so does that mean that _she _is here too? In this world, where aliens try to kill anyone they see!? _His teeth clenched down hard as flames started to dance above his hands as he felt both helpless and scared... so scared. _Please, just please... let her be safe._

"Okahara," Ryouta looked from the ceiling to one of the 'UNSC' Marines, barely recognizing him from the others as Corporal Kaiser, "you... okay?" The man asked, glancing down at the flames that Ryouta hadn't even noticed were alive.

"Yeah..." He muttered falsely, putting the flames out and relaxing both his fists and his teeth.  
"If you say so." Kaiser shrugged and headed on over to check on the tall woman sleeping on the floor.

Ryouta watched the marine for a few moments before turning his head and looking over at his friends who were sprawled about the basement, looking as ragtag as ever. A couple are good, close friends of his; but the others are just his former gang members. Here, in this dangerous world, those members will only look after themselves; not that he can blame them... His friends, though... they're as determined as he is, and they'll stick by him... no matter what.

As if reading his thoughts, both of his friends, a girl with the name of Bando Yuki and a man simply called Shinobu, looked over at him. Yuki smiled, bright and cheerful as always as Shinobu simply gave him a nod, all but his eyes, forehead, and hair invisible under the bandages he wore on his face. _The three of us know what we're fighting for, even if we have to risk our lives... nothing will change that._

_Nothing at all._

* * *

**Battalion Headquarters**

"Where do you think you're going?" Lieutenant Saionji asked from his spot up against the wall, eyeing the four girls passing in front of him, his voice stopping them from going any further down the hall. He already had a good idea about what they were doing, but this was too quick. They were jumping into it; and, though the captain might like that, he didn't. These girls, these children... they don't know what they're getting themselves into.

He thought Misaka, having been right there on the frontlines, would surely realize it, but it appears that he was wrong. She might actually be subconsciously suppressing it, and he couldn't have that. She, all of the girls, have to realize it. They have to understand that others aren't the only ones in trouble; they have to understand that they're in the same danger as the others. There's also another thing that they need to realize, something that he wished wasn't true.

Misaka faced him, looking into his eyes with her own naïve ones. "I've decided to do what I can to help."  
"So soon?"  
"I can't just stand around and do nothing."

Saionji sighed, getting off of the wall and stepping up to Misaka, looking down at the shorter girl. "It's good and all that you want to help save lives, but there's more at stake than just that. Haven't you realized it yet, Misaka? Do any of you fully understand what you're getting yourselves into?" He looked around at the girls, his eyes narrowed as he looked into their eyes.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Misaka asked, a little taken aback by what he was saying. Uiharu and Saten were just as surprised, and Shirai was averting her eyes away from him.

"You and your friends came from a different world," Saionji said, settling his eyes back on Misaka alone, "and you have to get back to that world, back to your family and friends and the rest of the people who are worrying about you. You have absolutely no obligation to risk your lives for people in this world; what you do here won't even affect anything in your own world, because all of this doesn't _exist_ in your world.

"As you know, we're in the middle of a war, a dangerous, bloody war that we're losing. We have men and women dying right and left on the frontline, right where you'd be sent if you offer to help us. Are you _prepared _to lose your life out here, out here in this foreign place? The device that brought you here is on the other side of the planet, in the very heart of Covenant territory. The only way to get there is to fight your way through entire armies, and hope a stray round doesn't take you out.

"Any given moment you can lose one of your friends; and, for what? What would you be fighting for? Is there any reason for you to fight, even if you have the power to help? This _isn't _your home, we _aren't _your people. Are you ready to risk your life for complete strangers; and are you ready to fight an overwhelming enemy that won't hesitate to turn you into a smoldering corpse?

"Don't rush into this, girls. I want to see all of you get back home safely, so you have to understand that in just an instant, if you decide to help us, that any one of you could find yourselves dead or without a friend. Sure, innocents are getting killed just like the rest of us, even infants and children murdered just because we're human, but think about _yourselves_." Saionji turned around, starting to walk away. "Go back to your room and think about it; I don't want to see you out until tomorrow morning, so think all night long on that _without _stopping. **_Dismissed_**."

The girls could only look after him with wide eyes.

* * *

**The Espers' Room**

The girls, just like Saionji had told them, were now all in the room that the UNSC had put aside for them. There were only two beds, each one big enough for two of them. Saten was lying back-down on top of her and Uiharu's bed, looking up at the ceiling with a somber expression on her face. Uiharu sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the floor while Shirai was leaning up against the wall beside her and Misaka's bed. Misaka herself was lying on her side in the bed, facing away from the other three.

"You know," Saten began, thinking out loud as she remembered what Saionji had said, "Saionji-san is kind of right. We're in the middle of a war, and we're children... only in middle school. We shouldn't be thinking about fighting in a war..." Her voice trailed off as she climbed up onto her butt.

"Yet, so many people are dying..." Uiharu said, her voice soft as she kept her eyes towards the floor, "I want to help them... even if we can't do much, I still want to do what I can do." She stood up, looking around at her friends in the room. "They may be strangers, but I still want to help save them! It won't be possible for us to go home on our own, and we need to get home; the only way to do that is to help..."

Uiharu and Saten both looked over at Misaka as the brunette sat up, turning her head ever so slightly where her bangs were visible but not her eyes. "Misaka, you understand that we _have _to help them, right?" Uiharu asked, taking a step towards Misaka.

"But... it's too dangerous..." Saten muttered, getting up onto her feet and facing Uiharu. "We're only... kids, not even adults... How can we possibly fight a war and expect to live through it?"  
"B-but..."

"I," The two girls looked over at Misaka as she spoke, "I can't bear... the thought of losing one of you... or leaving you behind. You're my friends, and I don't want to place you in any danger! But... even if we don't fight, we'll still be in danger..." Her hands gripped the fabric of the sheets tightly as Misaka turned her head back to its original position. "I... don't know what to do. This isn't... even our own world..." She released the sheets, falling back down onto her side and staying that way.

Uiharu and Saten looked at each other, both silent as they then looked over towards Shirai who hadn't moved an inch. Uiharu sat back down on the edge of the bed, turning her gaze back towards the floor while Saten just allowed herself to fall back down on the bed, her eyes closing.

Some time passed like that, Misaka staying on her side the whole time facing the wall while Shirai went from leaning against the back wall to sitting down against it, keeping strangely silent. Saten shifted position multiple times throughout it, and Uiharu eventually allowed her back to settle down on the bed from the spot where she had been sitting. It was an uncomfortable silence that had overcome them, each girl lost in her own thoughts.

Saten knew the whole thing was dangerous, and that they're just kids, yet she couldn't help but to feel that she wanted to help; but, she can't keep from remembering all the carnage that she had seen at the 2nd's location. It made her afraid; so scared... that she, or Uiharu, or Shirai, or Misaka would end up just like that. She didn't want to risk losing any of them.

Uiharu wanted to help no matter what, but she wasn't sure of it. A war is completely different from what Judgment does, but Judgment helps people... and these people need that help so much because their very lives are being threatened... but, it's a _war_. It isn't something they should be involved in at all, but she can't help but feel the _need _to help them... to do what she can, even though she may just be a middle school girl and a level 1 esper.

Misaka was torn between wanting, _needing_, to help prevent anymore lives from being taken and worrying about what they, she and her friends, would get into if they did decide to help. It was a situation where their very lives could so easily be lost, and she didn't want to risk that... But still, how can she just stand by and do nothing?

Shirai still kept to herself, saying nothing as she just sat there on the floor, the thoughts going through her mind remaining a mystery.

After a while, Misaka turned herself over, catching a glimpse of not only Uiharu and Saten lying next to each other on the bed, but also of three phones set on top of a drawer. There was Shirai's, Uiharu's, and Saten's; however, she didn't see hers. Deciding to allow herself a small moment of respite from her inner conflict, Misaka got up onto her feet and walked over to the drawer.

"Onee-sama?" Shirai asked, speaking for the first time since they had been confronted by Saionji.  
"Where's... my phone?"  
"It wasn't on you."  
"It... wasn't? But I had it with me..."

Saten sat up, rubbing her eyes. She and Uiharu had managed to doze off a little, and they were still half asleep. "Maybe you dropped it..." Saten muttered, covering her mouth as she yawned.  
"Someone might have picked it up..." Uiharu added as she stretched her arms.

Misaka glanced over at them before back down at the phones, her hand going and picking up Saten's. "Hey, Saten, I'm going to borrow your phone."  
"Sure..." She sleepily muttered, her eyes glancing down at Uiharu's pajamas, the girl secretly wishing that her friend was wearing a skirt instead of pants.

* * *

**CPV-Class Heavy Destroyer _Ultimate Salvation_**

Kora 'Koramai stood on the bridge, looking at a screen that displayed the human city that he had been in just a week ago. 'Sumee's old base was still there with the survivors of his battalion in it, still as unreinforced in the way of troops as before. Their defense had been strengthened, and they _had _received a few more vehicles, but they still had the same amount of troops as before. Kora had assumed control of it and had felt no need to bolster their forces with his own troops.

"Shipmaster, the heretic's cruiser has shown up on our sensors." A major informed him.  
"It's a trap, ignore it. Their destroyers likely lie in wait to flank us."  
"The _Cleansing Charity _has already broken off to engage."  
"The humans wouldn't show themselves to us if they knew they couldn't handle both a destroyer and a frigate together. Send a warning to shipmaster 'Tagrahee, but even if he does not heed us, we shall _not _pursue."  
"Yes, shipmaster."

Kora changed the screen to show a map of his current area, watching as the _Cleansing Charity _continued on towards the human's cruiser which turned around and started moving into a mountain range. Before he could continue to observe the _Charity's _fate, one of his officers called out. "Incoming transmission from the _Reaper of Intent_, shipmaster."

"Bring it up."

The familiar face of the shipmaster of the _Reaper _appeared on screen, and he looked a bit impatient, just like the last time Kora had seen him onboard the _Tenacious Retribution_. "Shipmaster 'Mdama, to what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected call?"

Jul 'Mdama crossed his arms, glancing at something off screen before looking back at Kora. "'Koramai, why do we simply lie in wait, unmoving as these _humans _use this time to recuperate? It was a foolish thing to stay silent for a week; but now we must wait _another_?" He growled, looking as angry as he was impatient. "I can not tolerate such idleness when we should be sweeping them from the face of the planet."

Kora developed a thoughtful pose, making it look like he was agreeing with Jul. "It is the Fleet Master's decision and we must obey it, though I can see why it is relevant that we do not let the humans regain their strength. They are a formidable foe, even their fleet is holding up against our own in this engagement, and the more we leave them alone gives them time to reinforce their position and plan, and carry out, attacks."

"Then why do we do nothing?"  
"The appearance of Stormbringer."  
"The human who controls lightning..." Jul said to himself, the anger and impatience slowly leaving his eyes and being replaced with interest.  
"Yes, it has made 'Rithinee weary."  
"Too weary, perhaps. Even if it routed an entire battalion and kept from your blade, it is still but another _human_."  
"I-"

Before Kora could continue, a _strange _noise made not only Jul look at him in confusion, but also his entire command crew. He was as confused as they were, and wondered just _what _was making the noise. Looking down at his belt, he figured it was coming from Stormbringer's device that he had stolen. Sure enough, it _was _the green device's fault. As he wondered how to get it to stop making the noise, he flipped it open and saw a human's face on it along with: Saten Ruiko, Accept, Decline. What he did next was out of pure curiosity.

* * *

Misaka blinked, a little surprised that someone had actually answered. **"Hello?" **There was no response at first, which made her a bit confused. **"Is anyone there?" **She wondered if it would be better to speak Japanese, but this wasn't Japan anymore, so she stuck to English.

_**"Stormbringer..."**_

Her eyes widened, her grip on the phone immediately tightening. The voice wasn't a human's, _nowhere _near a human's voice. She recognized the voice as the voice of an _Elite_, one of those bloodthirsty _murderers_. Her breath caught in her throat, the girl not being able to utter a word as she realized that she was talking to one of those aliens. Her silence caught her friends' attention, but she just ignored it as she finally managed to say, **"who... who is this...?" **Her voice was soft and low, her heartbeat increasing as so did her breathing.

The response came after several moments of silence, the voice sounding scarier and more confident than before. _**"****Shipmaster Kora 'Koramai of the CPV-Class Heavy Destroyer **_**Ultimate Salvation**_**."**_

**"'Koramai..." **Misaka's free hand clenched into a fist, her eyes narrowing as she turned them towards the phone she held by her ear. **"Why... why are you doing this...?" **She muttered, a somber tone embedded in her voice.

* * *

Kora had the device up by his head, considering that if he held it farther away he wouldn't be able to hear the familiar voice coming through it. He had been surprised when she could hear him, but he had went with it quickly, treating it as simple communication over a distance despite her being a _human_. However, her voice... it caught his attention.

_This... sounds like the voice of an uncertain warrior..._

Kora's eyes narrowed, the sound of her voice displeasing him greatly. What does she mean by 'doing this'? Does she refer to the war; to their extermination of the human race? But why would she ask him it; why would a human be interested in why they are doing this over two decades into the war? Shouldn't they already know it is-

A realization dawned in his eyes, bringing a Sangheili grin to his face.

_These human girls suddenly appeared out of nowhere, wearing strange clothing, speaking in a different language than their military, and wielding supernatural powers. Their movements were strange, as if they didn't know what was going on. They aren't UNSC, they aren't from this planet; they aren't... from this __world. They're warriors sent from someplace else, warriors that were thrust into this place._

_And they are uncertain. Uncertain about fighting._

**"Why? Your existence, humanity's existence, is a _blight _upon the galaxy; your destruction was decreed by the gods themselves, and we are their instruments. Your worlds shall burn, and all of your kind shall die at our hands. We shall seek out and slaughter each and every one of you, even those who do nothing but cower in front of our blades we shall slay. No matter how young or how old, _your kind shall perish_.**

**"All those you know, all those you don't know. As long as there is a human left, we shall not cease your obliteration. We shall hunt down your friends, your family, and lay them to eternal rest, and you will be unable to do anything to stop us. We have burned countless worlds already and have slaughtered billions in our wake; the wave is unstoppable, and it shall flow over you.**

**"We will not stop, we will not show mercy. Even if you hide behind your 'UNSC', we shall hunt you down and drive our blades through your frail bodies. If you truly wish to stop us, then _fight_." **Kora looked down at the screen, seeing 'End' and pressing the button underneath it. The girl's picture disappeared and showed the amphibian background.

That was when he noticed that everyone was staring at him, even the Unggoy assistants couldn't help but to look at him with the same eyes as Jul and the Sangheili. Kora glanced around the room before looking up at Jul, now finding himself in an awkward position. Fortunately, an officer took it upon himself to break the silence.

"Shipmaster..."  
"...Yes?"  
"I've lost contact with the _Cleansing Charity_..."

* * *

**The Espers' Room**

Misaka closed the phone, setting it down without a thought to it. Her hands were trembling, the brunette not even noticing her friends' concerned looks at her wide, frightened eyes and her pale face. _To fight means risking our lives against these... murderous aliens... Yet, to not fight means to risk losing our lives if the UNSC loses..._

She sank down onto her knees, staring straightforward. _What... what do we do!?_

* * *

It was hours later, nighttime now. Misaka was back to lying on her bed, sleeping finally after a long day of uncertainty. Uiharu and Saten laid next to each other, Saten facing Uiharu and having her arms around the girl's waist, snuggling up to her as she muttered something in her dream about 'white with blue stripes'. Shirai... was nowhere to be found in the room.

Outside of the compound, marines and other personnel went back and forth. What was left of Recon Force Bravo was currently working on the maintenance of their two remaining hogs, one of which was the salvaged _Sundae Driver_. Some of the survivors of the 2nd platoon were still hanging out outside, standing around talking about nothing in particular. A couple of army troopers passed by a red-haired girl, carrying a couple of ammo crates to the armory.

Shirai stood leaning on a railing, watching the UNSC personnel mulling about with little interest. She wasn't in deep thought about fighting or not fighting, but she _was_ worrying about her onee-sama. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do about it. After all, Misaka has to...

"Shirai-san."

Shirai looked behind her, catching sight of a familiar ODST. "Lieutenant Saionji." She said, watching as he walked up beside her and leaned against the railing in the same way.  
"I figured it earlier, but it really does seem like you've already realized it."

Shirai looked away from him, looking down at the ground instead. The man is right, she realized it soon after him, Prock, and Cole explained the entire situation to them when Misaka had still been unconscious. So far it looked like she has been the only to realize it; because, if the others had, they probably wouldn't be so conflicted in making a decision. They didn't really have much of a choice, after all.

"So, you believe if Misaka realizes it, than the others will fight too?"  
"Yes. We all look up to her; we feel confident when she's confident, and we feel nervous when she's nervous. So, when she's in this state... it also makes us uncertain."  
"Hmph, she reminds me of my daughter."

Shirai blinked, a little surprised as she looked back at Saionji. "You have a daughter?"  
"I... did."  
Shirai looked away again, but this time away from the somber expression in his eyes. "I'm... sorry..."

"It's... alright." Saionji got up off of the railing, turning towards the door. "Anyways, you'd best get to bed. It's getting late; past your bedtime you know." A moment passed and he smiled as he walked into the base. "Goodnight." He told the empty air.

* * *

**Misaka**

_As soon as Misaka opened her eyes, she found herself on a field of grass wearing her school's uniform. The sky was clear and the sun was shining bright, making her squint her eyes when she looked up towards the sky. She caught sight of a circle of rocks in front of her, and started making her way to them, feeling drawn to them. As she approached the rocks, she caught sight of... herself._

_Mikoto was sitting on top of one of the rocks, and she looked down at herself, smiling. "It looks like you've got yourself into quite a situation."_  
_"Who... are you?"_  
_"I'm you."_  
_"Me?"_  
_"That's right."_

_As Misaka watched, Mikoto jumped down off of the rock, landing right in front of her. "I see that you're still conflicted about what to do."_

_Misaka gave a slow nod before speaking. "Yeah... I know I'm just fourteen, but I still want to help these people. Even if they are complete strangers, they're still people, people who are getting killed. I can't just stand by when I can help; but, I don't want any of my friends to get hurt... or worse. This is a war, the only ones who should be risking their lives is the military, right...? Even if I still wanted to help, and didn't want to get my friends involved, they wouldn't just let me do it alone..."_

_Mikoto nodded in agreement, her hands clasped behind her back as she looked Misaka directly in the eyes. "Hey, tell me what's been at risk ever since you've arrived here in this world."_

_Misaka blinked, about to ask what she meant before memories of the first Elite, of the sniper, and of the Banshee suddenly surfaced in her mind. The words came out of her mouth without her even thinking about it. "Our lives..." She didn't know what... 'she' was getting at, and spoke with some thought. "But... that's because we were out there, away from any sort of protection."_

_"So, you're saying that you weren't safe 'there'? And that's why your lives were in danger?"  
"I guess..."_

_Mikoto took a step forward, getting a bit too close for comfort. "You know, Saionji forgot to tell you something; and 'Koramai even hinted at what he left out."  
Misaka was confused, to say the least. "What... do you mean?"  
"Just think about it, back on what they've told you."_

_What they... told her?_

_"We're in the middle of a war, a dangerous, bloody war that we're losing. We have men and women dying right and left on the frontline."  
**"Your worlds shall burn, and all of your kind shall die at our hands."**  
"Any given moment you can lose one of your friends."  
**"We shall hunt down your friends, your family, and lay them to eternal rest."**  
"You have to understand that in just an instant, if you decide to help us, that any one of you could find yourselves dead or without a friend. Sure, innocents are getting killed just like the rest of us, even infants and children murdered just because we're human, but think about __yourselves_."  
**"Even if you hide behind your 'UNSC', we shall hunt you down and drive our blades through your frail bodies."**

_Something that Saionji hadn't mentioned, and something that 'Koramai had only 'hinted' at..._

_With that, Misaka finally realized the full gravity of the situation. It wasn't about risking their lives; their lives are already at risk just by being here in this world. The Covenant will target anyone as long as they are human. Just because the UNSC is protecting these people doesn't mean that they are safe, they're still in so much danger. The real question is about risking their lives by fighting or by not fighting, the latter of which is only slightly less dangerous._

_Risk their lives by helping to save people, or risk their lives trying to wait a war out while hoping the UNSC doesn't fall? If their lives were in danger either way, it was an easier decision, though still hard in its own way. Because their lives were already in danger, and because she wanted, needed, to do what she could to help save lives, it was easier. But because it was more dangerous, because she cares so much for her friends and doesn't want to think about them getting hurt or... killed, it was so much harder._

_But, could they really live with themselves by not helping in this situation...?_

_She knew the answer._

_"I... understand."_

* * *

**The Espers' Room**

Misaka's eyes snapped open; and, without a moment to waste, she tore out of Shirai's arms, climbing over the redhead and getting down off of the bed. As Shirai started to wake up, Misaka snapped up Saten's phone and called herself again. She wasn't going to let this murderer have the last word, and she wasn't going to let him and all of his alien friends have their own way!

* * *

**CPV-Class Heavy Destroyer _Ultimate Salvation_**

"No survivors from the _Cleansing Charity_, shipmaster." One of Kora's officers spoke up as he went through the reports of the Phantoms they had sent out. "It seems that the humans blew up _another _mountaintop and then opened up from three different directions, including the flanks and from the front."

Kora gave a silent prayer to his fallen brethren of the _Charity_ before shifting his gaze over to another officer. "Warn the following ships to stay _above _the mountains: _Valorous Truth, Unyielding Contrition, Reaper of Intent, Long Night of Truth, Unrelenting Reconciliation, Harbinger of Charity, _and _Seeker of Penance_."

"And the others?"  
"They don't usually fly below mountains, do they?"  
The officer grinned. "Yes, shipmaster. They don't."

As the officer started to relay the message, a familiar, strange noise sounded out. All as one, even the Huragok on the bridge, they turned to face him. "Back to your duties." Kora barked, snapping them back around as he took out the device from his belt. It was the same girl's picture as before, but he knew that Stormbringer wasn't this... 'Saten Ruiko'. Humans actually varied in their appearances to him, unlike other Sangheili.

He accepted the call and brought it up so that he could hear the voice.

**"Can you hear me, 'Koramai?"  
"Yes."**

* * *

**"Good." **Misaka muttered, Uiharu and Saten catching sight of her grin as they woke up. **"Listen hear, I don't care if your gods decreed for you to start killing us humans, but that's all going to end. I'm not going to let you continue this; I, we, _will _stop you! We won't let you take anymore lives; we won't allow you to burn anymore worlds! You can threaten me all you want and go on and on about being such a tough-alien, but your days of murdering people are over! Do you hear me!? I am _Mikoto Misaka_!"**

With that, she snapped the phone shut, feeling a little proud, and full, of herself; but, most importantly, she was feeling confident again. Confident that she had chosen the right choice, or what she felt like was the right choice for her. There is no easy way to get back home; only one way is present, and that is to fight.

"Shirai, Uiharu, Saten," Misaka began, meeting the eyes of each girl, "Just by being here our lives are at risk. The only difference is that one choice is slightly less dangerous than the other; and, if our lives are in danger either way, I'd rather risk it helping to save people, even if it means fighting a war."

Her words reached Uiharu and Saten, making them realize the same thing. Uiharu nodded her agreement while Saten threw a fist into the air, a big smile on her face as she was happy that Misaka had returned to her old self. "Yeah, Misaka!"

Misaka smiled, starting to look over at Shirai but soon found herself being hugged tightly by the girl. "Onee-sama! I'm so happy that you're back to normal!" She looked up into the brunette's eyes, drool starting to come out of her mouth. "And since it's so dangerous, we should go ahead and consummate our love for each other!"

The resulting shock made the lights in the room flash off, coming on several seconds later and revealing that a certain redhead was now lying on the ground, electricity sparking here and there along her body. "Shirai, I'm being serious here." Misaka said, her face red as she stood there with crossed arms.

"I.. I was... too... onee...sama..." Shirai managed to mutter as she laid there on the ground, twitching a little. "But... aside from... that. It seems... like your sho...cks... are a... little strong...er... than usual..."

"Really? I didn't use that much power."  
"Um... Misaka-san..."

Misaka looked over at Uiharu and Saten, getting taken aback by how their hair looked after it had come into contact with her electricity. "S-Sorry..."

* * *

**Battalion Headquarters**

Now captain, Saionji was looking as his new rank insignia. He had just been promoted that morning, as the rest of his company was being dropped off later that day. The former captain of the company had been killed in action a little under two weeks earlier and they had just received word that Admiral Standingwater was promoting him to act as the CO of the remaining three platoons. Before he could give it some more thought, he caught sight of four girls heading on over to him.

"Lieu-"  
"Captain, Misaka-san."  
"Then, _Captain_ Saionji, we've decided to help. Unless, that is, if you have _another _problem with it."

Saionji raised an eyebrow and looked over at Shirai whose hair was still facing the aftereffects of being shocked. She gave him a nod, the man returning it before looking back at Misaka and the other girls. "Are you sure about this?"  
"Yes, we are." They all answered in unison.

"Let's start your training then." He said with a grin, turning his back on them as he started to walk away. Uiharu started after him immediately and, after a sigh, Shirai and then Saten started after him a bit reluctantly.

"Training...?" Misaka asked, a bit confused by what exactly he meant. As her friends got further away from her, she had to run to catch up with them. "What does he mean by 'training'!?"

* * *

**CPV-Class Heavy Destroyer _Ultimate Salvation_**

Kora 'Koramai placed the device back in his belt, grinning as he let his hand hover over his energy sword for just a moment. _The warrior no longer sounds uncertain._

"Establish a link to 'Sumee's base, now."  
"Yes, shipmaster."

_Mikoto... Misaka..._ Kora thought to himself as he waited for the link to be established. So_ that's Stormbringer's name._

* * *

**Unspecified Date in September:**** Shortly after the Covenant invasion, Alpha Company of the 1st Battalion of the 77th Marines Division sets down in Dustin City. Before the remaining companies onboard the UNSC _Waysider _can be deployed, Covenant Frigates give chase while setting down their own complement of troops which surround the majority of Alpha and most of the local army units. As the _Waysider_ leads the frigates off, the _Sister's Noise _fires a MAC round into the center of the surrounded company and troopers once the last marine falls, killing or injuring most of the Covenant force. The alien survivors pull back**** and start building a base near Dustin.**

**The _Waysider _is able to come around and quickly drop off Bravo Company along with a platoon of ODSTs led by Captain Sandstone and 2nd Lieutenant Saionji. The company holds out against the remaining Covenant for a week, all ODSTs save for Saionji being killed-in-action during a raid to destroy the majority of the enemy's vehicles and supplies, leaving only a few Banshees and ten Wraiths.**

**Meanwhile, the city of Klaxon comes under heavy assault, army forces being trampled and UNSC Marines unable to respond in time. During this time, Admiral Standingwater notices that the Covenant is concentrating their forces near areas with strange, alien structures. In a daring move, he orders the 90th Marines Division to set up around the largest alien structure which is conveniently located in a highly strategic location amongst the mountains.**

**Covenant warships nearing the location do not fire on the 90th or the UNSC warships over the building, even when fired upon. Instead, they build a large base opposite of the 90th's location and use that position to assault the UNSC.**


	7. Klaxon

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun, or Halo, or Index.**

******A/N: Timeline continued next chapter.**

* * *

******Battalion Headquarters**

"Staff Sergeant Duran Crater, Lance Corporal Kuina Malcolm, and Private First Class Jeremiah..." Captain Saionji paused for a moment as he read off the three Army Soldiers' names before him. "Co-nelt?"  
"It's pronounced 'Colt', sir."  
Saionji snapped his head up from the datapad and stared at Conelt. "Colt?"  
"Yes sir. The 'N' is silent and the 'E' might as well be, so 'Colt', sir."  
"The _N_... is silent? Right in the very middle of the word?"  
"Yes sir."  
"Why is it there in the first place?"  
"I have no clue sir; it's from my Mother's side."

Saionji simply gave the trooper a nod to end the conversation right then and there; after all, he had something more important to discuss with the three army personnel which he continued to look over. Crater was around 5'8 with dark-brown standard short-cut hair and a bit of a goatee, along with deep blue eyes; he wasn't on the skinny side but neither was he on the broad side. Malcolm didn't look a shred of Japanese unlike her first name, and she didn't even know the language either; she stood at 5'10, two inches above Crater, and had shorter hair than he did with her buzz-cut. What hair she did have appeared to be brown, likely light-brown in contrast to her dark-brown eyes. Conelt (pronounced 'Colt') had the longest hair, a sand-like blonde, of the three (it actually looked like it needed to be trimmed) and he was also the shortest, standing under Crater at 5'7. He had strangely energetic looking green eyes that didn't seem nowhere near as scarred as anyone else's Saionji has ever seen in the military; but the same couldn't be said for his smiling face that had a small scar on the left cheek. He was more on the skinny side.

"Now, as for why I've called you three here, you're going to be transferred to a different unit. No, there are not any other army units on their way to meet up with us nor have we any plans to meet up with any; instead, you three are going to be transferred to a new special forces unit made up of a mix of Army, Marine, and ODST personnel."

The three troopers looked at each other, a bit confused by what Saionji was saying. After their shared look, Crater was the one to speak up. "May you explain, sir?"  
"I trust that you are aware of the four additions from a week ago?"  
"The Esper-girls?"

"Yes. We've decided to place them in a unit of their own, though Railgun and Teleporter will be subject to supporting other units. You three will join the unit along with Zero, as the marines have named her, and your field officers shall be Flowers and Major Tachibana who is currently training Flowers. The unit's role is supporting other units as the need arises; though, in this war, you will likely often find yourself out of your role. Sergeant Crater, you'll be in command of the team and you will also lead Zero's training."

"Training?"  
"Yes. Corporal Maverick is taking care of her marksman training, but it will be up to you to teach her the basics."  
"I understand sir. Basically teach her everything I know, correct?"  
"Yes, start with the hand-signals and terms."

"Hold on," Malcolm began, getting their attention onto her, "how are we supposed to speak with her? We don't know Japanese, and she doesn't know English."  
"I know sign language." Conelt said.  
"Sign language is real helpful over the radio."  
"Oh, right."

Saionji reached into one of the pouches on his armor and held out his hand to the three troopers, three very small objects in his palm. "Take these; these are Japanese-to-English translators. Place them in your ears and it will give a simultaneous translation; Crater, I trust you to give this one to Zero." He reached into a different pouch and brought out another translator. "This one is English-to-Japanese. These will be handy, but I want you to try and teach her some English; Conelt, that's up to you."

"Me, sir?"  
"Yes, you got a major in English right before enlisting, correct?"

Crater and Malcolm snapped their eyes over to Conelt, neither having taken him for the teacher-type. He simply shrugged, still smiling. Crater smiled too before turning back to Saionji, Malcolm eyeing Conelt for a couple more moments before looking back at Saionji. "I suppose we're to meet with Zero now, sir?"

The ODST shook his head. "No, the girls currently have prior business that they're attending to."  
"Prior business?"

In response to that, Saionji turned his head a little and placed his hand on the lower-back of his head. "Can't have friendly fire out there, now can we?" Crater nodded in response to that as Saionji continued. "I shall brief the girls after they've finished and then you three will meet up with them; until then, assist Delta and Charlie in loading up until Cole contacts you."

"Yes sir." The three Army Troopers replied, about to turn away as Saionji looked off to the side.  
"Butcher!" The slightly familiar name (though they've never seen who it belonged to before) made all three stop and look over at the marine that suddenly appeared out of the shadows.

The man was _massive_: nearly as tall as a Spartan (exaggeration), broad as a bull (slight exaggeration), and muscled as well as a pro-wrester (almost an exaggeration). Crater's mouth hung open for a few moments before he found some words to speak. "D-don't we have a height limit...?"  
"Forget height, what about a mass limit?"  
"A-a... muscle limit?" Conelt whimpered.

Saionji looked over at them. "This is Sergeant Major Butcher, he's the residential barber."  
"Barber, sir...? He looks like a heavy weps specialist."  
"He looks like he'd tear a MAC off of a frigate just for a sidearm!"  
"Forget a hev-weps specialist, he looks like a Spartan out of armor! _If _they get out of their armor!"

"Back to your duties!" Saionji suddenly barked, making the three soldiers jump and comply. When they were gone and it was just him and Sergeant Major Grade A. Butcher, he looked up at the barber with a slightly sorrowful look on his face. "Butcher, you have your mission." The man gave the slightest of nods before slightly cocking his head for a moment. "No, it's bad enough to do hers; to do it to Zero... My conscience would leave me." The man gave a very short and quiet snort. "Yeah, yeah, I know; but she's not actual UNSC, despite Cole placing all of them in the database. Besides-" Before he could continue, Cole appeared on a pedestal.

"Captain Saionji, Captain Prock wishes to speak to you about the mission to-"  
"Shirai. Misaka lacks the training for a mission."  
"I'll relay that to her; but-"  
"I understand, I'm on my way."

Cole watched as Saionji left the room, the AI looking over at Butcher who was looking back at her. "Don't give the poor girl PTSD, sergeant. The captain wants her assistance tomorrow."  
The man simply grinned.

* * *

******Covenant-Held City of Klaxon**

**The Next Morning (Night at Dustin)**

Up on top of a building near the center of Klaxon, Jackals stood on the corners of the roof with carbines and beam rifles, guarding the large, city-wide jamming tower that prevented _any_ UNSC signals from getting in or getting out. They looked down into the roads, to the roofs of other buildings, and even around the roof they were standing on, but it was not often that they glanced over at the jamming tower itself. Even if they were to glance at it, they would have to look even closer to see UNSC-grade explosives suddenly appear on it.

Closer towards the edge of the city, but more towards the center than the edge, was a half-destroyed arsenal of UNSC weaponry and vehicles. Though half of the base had been destroyed, there was still one armory plus a large garage-full of Warthogs still intact. In this garage, UNSC soldiers were loading up along with five civilians. Out of the twelve hogs there, which included two Gauss and two Transport, all but two of them were being loaded up. Some time later, as Gunnery Sergeant Drain was climbing into the driver seat of his hog, the sixth civilian came in through the door, giving him a nod before proceeding to get into a transport hog.

Drain smiled. "Platoon, we are getting out of this city! Let's show these covvies that just because the _Special One_ bit the dust doesn't mean that her crew bit it along with her!"  
"Oo rah!"

The garage door started opening, revealing the sunlit dawn that was springing up over one side of Ballast. "On my mark in 3..." The engines roared to life. "2..." Marines in passenger seats shouldered their rocket launchers. "1..." Drain grinned as he pressed the detonator. "Mark!" All ten Warthogs sped out of the garage, taking a sharp turn as a loud explosion sounded out over the city, the upper part of a tower falling stories down from a building on top of a Wraith.

With the jamming tower now destroyed, Drain attempted to contact Admiral Standingwater as they headed down the road, gunners keeping a lookout for snipers as they made their way to the first of three checkpoints. "Admiral, this is the surviving crew of the UNSC _Special One._ We are currently making our way out of Klaxon on the main road; requesting immediate evacuation for when we get out!" There was no response at first as they continued down the road, not yet coming into sight of the Covenant.

Finally, after several more moments of silence and just as Drain was about to try it once more, a voice came over the radio._ "Soldier, this is Admiral Standingwater, we read you; however, the enemy presence there is too-"  
_"Sir, we've got a Spartan."

Just as he said that, the figure behind him grabbed her pistol, aimed, and fired twice, downing two Jackal snipers on a roof up ahead on an intersection. In the distance, beyond where the Jackals were killed, Drain could see the Covenant checkpoint. _"...Understood. You'll have your extraction, soldier."_

"Yes sir." With that, Drain turned his attention back onto driving as the turret opened up behind him along with the turrets of every other Warthog, a hail of bullets raining down on top of the Covenant as their mortar tanks started to turn around. One slug, though, found the weakspot of one Wraith, taking it down as two rockets slammed into the side of the second Wraith, sending it up in flames as well. The infantry, along with their shade turrets that _weren't_ getting their operators taken out, lifted their weapons and started pouring into the oncoming Warthogs.

They kept going, pouring into the Covenant position as Drain slammed right through a Shade turret, watching as the debris flew off to the sides and as he kept on going, being followed by the rest of his platoon. As a Grunt lifted up an overcharged plasma pistol to EMP one of the trailing hogs, a ball of fire slammed into it, setting it ablaze and forcing its shot to go up high. Ryouta, in the first transport hog, narrowed his eyes as he set another fireball towards one of the larger aliens before getting out of range, catching sight of its shields falling before they left the checkpoint behind.

"First checkpoint down! Anyone injured!?" Drain called out to his marines, receiving answers from each and every one of them. "Good! We're approaching Checkpoint B, lock and lo- Up high, mortars!" Plasma was soaring up into the air from three different directions, all six rounds heading down towards their path. "Break off and engage!" He cried out, increasing the speed as the eight other Warthogs besides his and the other Gauss split into two groups of four, each turning at the next intersection.

Drain pressed forward, dodging the mortar fire that came down all around them as the Spartan opened fire, hitting the driver area of one Wraith far up ahead. The second Warthog opened up also, but at this distance the gunner only managed to hit near the driver area. The Wraiths opened fire once more, only two rounds this time heading towards them as the other teams engaged their tanks. The Spartan fired again as the sergeant felt a wave of heat wash over him from a nearby blast, the slug penetrating the driver's cover and killing the unfortunate Elite, dropping the Wraith to the ground.

Meanwhile, on the street left of the main road, a large fireball covered one of two Wraiths as bullets slammed around the gun on the second Wraith. Just as that Wraith was opening fire, the bullets managed to tear a section in the gun and drop its aim, the mortar round slamming into the Wraith itself as the driver of the burning Wraith bolted. However, on the right street to the main road, the third team was having a much more difficult time with their two Wraiths. A mortar round slammed into one of the Warthogs, and in return a marine sent two rockets into the front of the tank. The Wraith didn't go down with that, but a short volley of .50 caliber bullets finished it off. The second Wraith boosted forward as the Warthogs were forced to turn around to have a better chance at dodging its rounds, the alien tank pursuing them with plasma as bullets slammed all around the center of it.

On the main road, a slug pierced through the center of a Wraith's plasma cannon right before a rocket slammed down into the gun carriage, causing an explosion in the back of the Wraith that rendered it useless. With their two Wraiths down, Drain sped forward into their lines, slamming into an Elite and watching with satisfaction as its body went flying off of the hood and as the Spartan fired at a sniper tower, knocking it off course of its gravity mechanism and forcing it down onto the ground right into some plasma batteries. Drain ducked when plasma bolts started slamming against the Warthog, the number of bolts instantly decreasing when he heard the sound of the chief's magnum going off until it ran empty, though he never caught the click. "Kaiser, we're swinging around to assist! Hold on!" He cried out to the third team, turning to the right and going through the Covenant ranks as the second team sped past their destroyed Wraiths and continued on past the barricades.

As soon as they came into sight of the remaining Wraith, both the Spartan manning the gun and Gilbert in the passenger seat opened up with their weapons, first the slug slamming into the exposed backside and then the rocket, the alien tank instantly going up in a dazzling, blue explosion. "Wraiths are down! Let's go!" Drain called out over the radio, the third team joining him as they continued on through the remaining lines of the Covenant checkpoint. As they exited the alien-filled street, shade fire caught Abel in the passenger seat of the second Gauss hog and sniper fire got Martinez on the gun of one of the two regular Warthogs before the chief took the snipers out.

Fortunately, that was the extent of their casualties. They got out of range of the checkpoint and joined up with the second team on the main road, the only casualty on their side being one of the civilians in their transport hog who got hit in the chest with a needler round. Drain grimaced but kept going; however, his face paled when he heard the unmistakable sound of Banshees. "Up high! Enemy air!"

The chief petty officer in the back turned the Gauss cannon towards the sky, firing as soon as she caught sight of four Banshees rounding a building. The first craft went down, its demise giving enough time for the pilots of the other three to make elaborate evasive maneuvers. The gunner of the second Gauss fired time and time again but couldn't get a shot while the chief waited for a few moments, analyzing their patterns and calculating one's expected route before opening fire, catching it in the middle of a spiraling barrel roll.

The two remaining Banshees boosted forward, the lead one coming down onto the second Gauss hog with its fuel rod cannon firing and setting it ablaze. The pilot wasn't careful, though, and ended up getting shot down by Drain's hog as he attempted to break off. The last Banshee attempted to take the sergeant out, but quick thinking led to the green ball of plasma barely missing them. This pilot wasn't as reckless as the other and was swiftly dodging any attempt for the chief to take it down as it started to swing around, using the buildings as quick cover.

"Jackals!" Gilbert cried out when he caught sight of a squad of them up ahead. Before he could take aim and get them with his rocket launcher, the Spartan spoke up.

"I need a pistol."  
"Gilbert, hold your fire!"

Gilbert hunkered down in his seat as Drain moved the hog closer to the right side of the street, the Jackals opening up on them as they stayed behind their protective shields which were useless when the chief took out her assault rifle and opened up with short-fire bursts, hitting the spots that the shields did not cover. As one Jackal fell over, its pistol went flying up into the air, the Spartan catching it as Drain drove past. At that moment, the Banshee came swooping down on them from above, about to open fire but was stopped when a large ball of overcharged plasma slammed into it, momentarily knocking it out.

The pilot franticly tried everything to prevent the Banshee from slamming full speed into the ground and he just barely managed to pull upwards in time when the systems came back online. However, he soon found himself being hijacked by the demon who had just shot him. The Elite's body went flying into the ground as the Spartan took control of the Banshee, gaining altitude as she brought it over the rooftops. "Sir, I'll clear a path through the final checkpoint."

"We'll keep your gunner seat open for you."  
"Yes sir."

The Banshee's boosters activated, propelling it forward at incredible speeds as the Spartan took the wheel, the craft soon getting out of sight of the surviving members of the platoon. "Keep forward, we're going to be cutting a straight line out of here! I'll take the lead; Transports in the middle! Protect those civvies!" Drain called out to the platoon.

* * *

A fair ways up ahead, out of sight of the Warthogs, sat a long line of Covenant barricades facing out from the city with four sniper towers set up along the line. Two Locusts guarded the main road while a large number of Wraiths were spread out amongst the Infantry that were mixed in with the vehicles and emplacements. Shade turrets reinforced the position along with sets of Hunters while a Covenant Assault Carrier was in the distance inwards the city with a CCS-Class Battlecruiser hanging up in orbit, the flagship of the entire fleet.

Despite all of the barricades facing out from the city, the Covenant were looking into the city instead, on edge as they had received reports of a human convoy heading their way made up of 'Warthogs', the most common human vehicle. Along with reports of the convoy came reports of a demon, something that had many Grunts trembling with fear and many Sangheili anxious to fight. However, instead of a procession of fast-moving Warthogs, the assembled aliens were met with a lone Banshee; and, before they could realize that it was hostile, a Locust's shield was already being rapidly drained. Confusion broke out amongst their ranks, but it was suppressed by the roars of the Sangheili as they quickly caught on to what was truly going on: the demon had commandeered one of their own vehicles.

The Locust's main gun activated, shooting a beam straight at the Banshee which barrel-rolled to the side and continued to pour into the shield, dropping it before unleashing a fuel rod which slammed into the weak armor of the Locust. The aircraft screeched past overhead, gaining altitude as the Locust came crashing down into their lines. Plasma, needles, and particles flew up into the air in an attempt to take the Banshee down, but the craft was far too nimble and swift and the pilot was far too skilled. It came down upon them again, dodging the second Locust's cannon as it sent a Wraith up in flames before sweeping low, catching Grunts and Jackals on its wings before it went back up into the sky, missing a mortar round that engulfed a squad of Infantry instead.

As the Locust continued to fire, the Spartan used the operator's single-minded focus on her to her advantage, flying over the barricades at an angle that made the Locust catch the two sniper towers close to the main road with its beam, destroying them and killing the snipers that had manned them. With the towers down she shot up into the air behind a building, flying high before making way for the Locust, coming down upon it quickly with plasma bolts firing followed by a fuel rod which took down the shields as she flew by. She lifted the Banshee up and around, not waiting to straight out before unleashing a volley at the Locust. Something vital was hit and an explosion tore a hole in it before it dropped down on top of the roof of the building it had been standing on.

The Spartan barrel-rolled out of the way of a mortar round that melted into the side of the building, firing the fuel rod down into the Wraith before shifting off to fly out to the front of the barricade line. She started tearing into the Shade turrets, aiming for the gunners as they returned fire. Plasma burned into the Banshee as the fire was too heavy to avoid it all, but the craft wasn't down yet as she shifted away from the Shades and lit up a Revenant before coming around once more. Before she could open up on the Ghosts she had sighted moving through the line, fuel rod shots erupted all around her as the Sangheili took it upon themselves to take her down. One such shot exploded right up against her, knocking her off balance as stray small-arms fire started to hit the now unstable craft.

Knowing that the Banshee didn't have long, the Spartan was glad to see the platoon in the distance, not yet spotted by the Covenant line who had their entire attention on her. As part of her wing went flying, she steered the Banshee around, activating the boosters and flying down the line, keeping the Covenant's attention on her long enough before zipping back into the city, swiftly evading the buildings before coming out over the main road. Sighting one more Wraith close to their path, she pushed the Banshee as fast as it could go before bailing, falling stories down as the Banshee continued its rapid descent, soon crashing into the Wraith in a brilliant explosion that engulfed both the vehicles and a good 10 surrounding meters.

She landed hard on the ground, breaking out into a sprint as the Warthogs caught up with her, neither slowing down as she climbed back onto the Gauss cannon of Drain's hog. "Fire!" The sergeant shouted out, Gilbert firing both of his rockets as the rest of the marines opened up. As some of the braver and questioningly-foolish Covenant started to move in their path, Ryouta stood up from where he was sitting and summoned two massive fireballs. He launched them flying up into the air, faster than the Warthogs were moving; they came down on the two sides of the road in the Covenant line, but they didn't stop just where they landed. Two long lines of grass suddenly erupted in roaring flames, lashing out at nearby aliens and engulfing the grass off to the sides of the road while also keeping back the Covenant from blocking the road.

The Warthogs went blazing down the road, passing in between the walls of fire and mowing down any Covenant still standing in their way. The trailing Warthog was caught by a lucky mortar round, but the enemy force was too disrupted to take anymore victims. "We're through! We are through! Don't stop; don't slow down!" Drain yelled out as they put distance between them and Klaxon; however, just as they were getting three to four miles out, the road kilometers away erupted in molten hot plasma that scorched the ground and the air, sending waves of heat that could be felt even their distance away.

And it wasn't just the road.

"STOP!" Drain cried out, slamming on the brakes as the air got hotter and hotter. The rest of his platoon did the same, the second Warthog bumping into his and nearly making them tip over before the hog came crashing back down onto the ground. As a small scorched wasteland laid before him, the sergeant looked up into the skies, his eyes widening in fear when he caught sight of a Corvette nearing on their location. He took a quick look back at the blackened ground and then shot his eyes between the Corvette and Klaxon.

They were trapped.

He slammed his fist against the dashboard before grabbing his assault rifle and climbing out of the Warthog. "I want a defensive line facing out towards Klaxon with the Transports in the middle. Gunners stay, everyone else out! Civvies, behind my hog! Gilbert, take the gun; chief, you're with me!" They hurried into position, drivers moving their hogs to form a line while the marines hunkered down behind them with the civvies being placed behind the Gauss hog which stayed behind the line.

"We've got Ghosts inbound!"  
"Light 'em up!"

Without being needed to be told, the gunners opened up on the four Ghosts; the two lead ones were targeted by two gunners each, the marines quickly bringing them down as the other two boosted forward. A sniper round took the driver of the first one out, dropping the Ghost to the ground, allowing all four gunners to focus their fire on the fourth Ghost, pelting it with so many rounds that it went up in a large explosion without even touching the ground first.

"Those were just the hurry-bodies! Don't drop your guard!"  
"S-sir! We've got Bansh- B-Banshees and Phantoms inbo- There's a ton of them!"

Drain soon saw what the sniper was referring to when he caught sight of dozens upon dozens of Banshees along with a dozen Phantoms coming over the city from the assault carrier that was hanging back, his face going white.

"Covenant ground forces are advancing! They're pouring out from the barricade and are _charging _towards us! There doesn't appear to be any order!"  
"Oh man, it's a mad rush!"  
"What are we going to do, sarge!?"  
"Even if we have a Spartan...!"

"Fire..." Drain muttered, his men looking to him as did so the Spartan. "Fire... everything! We're going to take as many of these Covenant dogs with us as we can! Fire as soon as they get into range; target whatever you can bring down!"

"Y-yes sir!"

The gunners on all five hogs aimed up into the sky at the incoming wave as the marines on the ground shifted their sights to the horde of Covenant infantry pouring over the land. It wasn't long before the Banshees started to enter firing range, the gunners' fingers easing down on the triggers as they prepared to light up the aircraft with the most furious of expressions on their face. However, before any of them could pull the trigger, and before any of the lead Banshees could fire, missiles tore into the Covenant craft, destroying them outright as missiles started ringing true throughout the Covenant air. Looking up into the sky, the Marines saw Longswords whipping by over them and into the Covenant formation, firing a multitude of missiles that slammed into Banshees, Phantoms, and even into the ground.

As the Longswords and Banshees broke out into a hazard dogfight, Shortswords flew by overhead, sending down carpet bombs that enveloped a major part of the Covenant charge, sending blood and gore flying into the air. An ear-splitting sound then suddenly rung out over the battlefield, causing Drain to look up into the sky to catch sight of the Covenant Corvette with a flaming hole in its side as Archer missiles slammed all along its unshielded hull. When he looked to see what had fired the Archers, he saw a frigate coming out from behind the nearby mountain, firing off bursts of fire from its 50mms as it moved in to engage.

"Reinforcements!"  
"We've got to hold out until EVAC!"  
"Phantoms closing in!"  
"Lock and load!"

As a Shortsword took a fatal shot to its wing and deliberately flew straight into a Phantom, blowing them both up in the process, Drain received a transmission over his helmet comms. _"Sergeant, this is the _Waysider_. We're sending in Pelicans to pick you up and get you out of here; I repeat, Pelicans are inbound. We'll hold off the Covenant for as long as we can!"_

"U-Understood!" Drain exclaimed as his marines opened fire on landing Covenant troops, the Spartan firing off short and accurate bursts of fire that fell an entire squad of Grunts as Copperfield, the sniper, took out the Elite Major. A cry sounded out as one of the marines, Ramirez, took a carbine round to the chest, dead before she even hit the ground.

Another Phantom turned so that its side was facing them, dropping off two squads of Jackals that hefted their shields up and let the bullets soak into them as they returned fire, one of the gunners, Remington, getting caught with a bolt to his helmet that went flying. Part of his head was burning, but he didn't stop pouring into them. The chief threw a grenade up high into the air, flying fast and exploding right as it reached the two squads. Their formation was disrupted, allowing the marines to start tearing them down as their shield-wall had gone; Copperfield took out the two Elites commanding them with his last two rounds in his clip. Before he could start to reload, he caught sight of a distant Jackal sniper aiming right next to him, right at the Spartan.

"Chief!" He cried out, slamming his full weight into the Spartan's side as the Jackal fired, the particle beam passing right through his heart as the chief's eyes widened.

* * *

**Flashback**

_A marine and a Spartan were running down the bridge as their EVAC Pelican was touching down in the hot LZ, its gun going off crazy as Elites poured into it with plasma. The marine nearly stumbled but didn't slow down as his eyes stayed on the Pelican; then, all of a sudden, he caught sight of an Elite popping out from behind a rock, aiming straight at him. His eyes widened as time seemed to slow down; then, as he started to feel a hand going up against him, he saw the Spartan beginning to push him out of the way out of the corner of his eye._

_For a reason he could not fully understand, he just couldn't let things end this way. Instead of allowing himself to be thrown out of the way, he threw himself in the direct line of fire, needler rounds slamming into his chest immediately. As he fell back to the ground, he grabbed his magnum and shot the Elite down just before the cluster of needles in his chest exploded, his life ending right then and there as blood and gore splashed onto the ground and the Spartan herself. She didn't hesitate to start sprinting towards the Pelican, but not before swiping the dead sergeant's dog-tags. __Once she was onboard, the pilot didn't waste any time to pull out; the dropship rising up into the air as she fired into the Covenant through the closing bay door, her eyes drifting back towards the sergeant's body one last time before it closed and they were on their way back to the Spirit of Fire._

* * *

_Now, another Marine had died to save her._

Faster than any regular human could hope to achieve, she was tearing out a clip for the rifle from Copperfield's pouch as she swiped the rifle from his hands, dumping the empty clip and slamming in the fresh one before sighting the Jackal sniper and sniping it down. Before she could switch to another target, drop pods came flying out of the sky, landing three hundred meters away from their position; and they _weren't _ODSTs. Elite Ultras and even an Elite General emerged from the pods, every single one of them wielding an energy sword. The general pointed its sword straight at her and roared, the two dozen scattered Ultras all charging forward as one.

"Elites! A LOT of 'em!"  
"S-sir!"  
"Keep firing! Just keep firing!"  
"There's too many!"

_They'll overtake our position like this; I have to stop them!_

The Spartan placed one hand on the hood of the Warthog and lifted herself over it, sighting the general just as she landed on the ground and firing off the last three shots. The first two shots took out its shields and the third went straight through its head, dropping the general before it could even join in on the charge. She didn't stop there; she launched herself towards the charging Elites, crossing the two hundred and fifty meters in a flash right before slamming the sniper rifle like a bat into the lead Ultra with such force that sent both its helmet flying and half of the rifle. The next instant saw her combat knife embedded in the Elite's neck and its energy sword missing from its belt.

As the Elites who were focused on her (the heavy majority of them) stopped their full-on sprint and turned to face her, the chief was already at the next Elite, slashing her sword through the alien's head before wrenching free its sword with her free hand and sending it flying into one of the Elites that were now charging her. She sprinted towards the ones in front of her, sword clashing against sword right as she started to twist around her foe, slapping a plasma grenade onto his back before launching herself off of the ground and backwards, dodging a horizontal slash that came close enough that made her shields flare up due to the heat.

She landed right in front of the fourth Elite (the second one had been the one to get a sword through the chest) just as it slashed downwards. In one sweeping motion, she was low to the ground after running her sword right through the Elite's knees, its slash going off the mark as its upper part fell forward because of its momentum. It still had managed to take out her shields, but it missed short of getting her left arm; and, to put it out of its misery, she tossed a frag grenade right by where its torso would land before dashing through an explosion that had engulfed the fifth and sixth Elites just as the plasma grenade she had left earlier exploded, taking out the first and third Elites.

She took notice that the Marines were focusing their fire towards the now less than eleven Ultras behind her, so she counted on them to watch her back as she faced the remaining four Ultras in front of her. The fourth Elite of this group had his shields glowing extremely bright, right at the breaking point after the initial .50 caliber fire that had taken out the fifth Elite had nearly drained its shields. However, the first and second Elites were already upon her so she couldn't exploit that yet; but, if she could just unload her magnum into it, then-

Once again sword met sword, but another sword was already coming down upon her; she had to wrench away from the first Elite as the sword passed right next to her armor. Using the dodge to spin around, she ran her sword through the first's side, taking out the shield but only penetrating very little into the armor. She ducked under the return slash and managed to kick a leg out from under the Elite before being forced to raise her sword up to block a strike from the second; but the strike was merely a feint as it was now slamming its leg into her side, sending her flying backwards into the air and straight towards the third Elite who was bringing its sword up as a distant frag grenade exploded. There was no way she could block the strike; she was going to get killed. But, just as she realized that, limbs and blood was flying as the ground under and around the third Elite erupted in showers of dirt as high caliber rounds slammed through the alien. The rounds nearly hit her before she dropped back to the ground and up on her feet, more rounds engulfing the first and second as she raised her magnum and poured three shots into the charging fourth Elite, breaking its shield with the first two and killing it with the third.

As missiles slammed into the remaining infantry, and as the Marines and Pelicans gunned down the rest of the Ultras, the chief dropped the energy sword and picked up the carbine the fourth had with it along with two extra 'clips'. She slowly (for a Spartan, but quick for a Marine) started backing up to the defensive line as she took down stragglers that escaped the missile barrage or infantry that hadn't been caught up in it at all. Eventually, she heard Sergeant Drain calling her to get straight back there _immediately_ for EVAC. She turned around and broke into a sprint; and just as she did that, a Banshee broke off from the ongoing dogfight and powered up its fuel rod cannon. The chief looked up towards it, raising the carbine as she went into what was called 'Spartan Time'; before she could attempt anything though, a Longsword went flying straight into the Banshee as it started to fire, the fuel rod heavily damaging the wing and causing the fighter to go crashing down into the ground.

The chief sent a silent 'thank you' to the pilot before turning her attention back onto the defensive line and the Pelicans right behind it. One of the transport hogs was overturned and Remington was slumped over the turret, his dog-tags missing and most likely in the hands of one of the marines. The Gauss hog was in flames and she spotted Gilbert on the ground away from it, half of his body covered in third-degree burns and his likely half-melted dog-tags missing as well. One of the civilians was face-down on the ground, the marine armor burnt along with his skin and another civilian was further away, no burns but a bleeding hole in his chest: stray fire likely.

Aside from Ramirez, Copperfield, Remington, and Gilbert, three other Marines had been killed during their defense: Gomez, Abrams, and Kaminski. As she climbed onboard the center Pelican as the other two lifted off, and as Drain helped her up (through the gesture was more good-willed than actually, if any, helpful considering she could easily crush his hand or pull him towards her), she could see that Kaiser was getting treated by a medic. Who see saw next instantly made her snap to salute. "Colonel!"

Lieutenant Colonel Douglas of the 90th Marines Division stood before her, a battle rifle being held in his left hand as he looked her over before smiling. "Skip the formalities, chief." He walked up to her and held out his hand. "It's good to have you here, ma'am."

"Spartan-023 reporting for duty, sir." She told him, taking his hand.  
He turned back towards the front of the Pelican, looking through the open door. "Pilot, get us home!"

"Yes sir!" Came the pilot's voice as he lifted off, opening up a channel to the _Waysider _at the same time. "_Waysider_, this is Bravo-329, we've got the cargo. You are cleared to disengage!"

Though a slightly static-filled, yet audible, channel, the _Waysider _came back. _"Bravo-329, there's nothing to disengage."_

The pilot was slightly confused by that until his co-pilot pointed out towards the left just as they rose up over Bravo-400. The Covenant Corvette had a flaming hole in the front of it along with two smoking engines in the back with multiple other breaches as it descended down towards the ground in what could only be a crash landing.

_"We've sustained heavy damage but will attempt to lead off the remaining Ban- Negative! That is a negative!"_

There was a flash of a plasma beam coming down from the heavens right near the _Waysider _which was now turning and going full-speed away from Klaxon, likely pressing its engines to the breaking point as it flew away (zipping away by the Navy-boys, but merely flying away by the Fly-boys). "Prep for a bumpy ride, ladies and gentleman!" He switched over to a channel connecting him to the current leader of the Longswords, the Shortswords already having pulled away. "Shana, you there?" Static. "Shana!?" There was only more static; he growled and switched to the entire wing's channel. "Whoever is in charge, we're counting on you to get our Spartan and the rest of us out of here safely! Got that!?"

_"Understood Bravo-329, we'll keep those Banshees off your tail."  
_"How'd Shana go down?" The pilot, a man in his mid-twenties by the name of Bryan Stockfield, asked as they passed by one of the many mountains near Klaxon and on their way to the 90th.  
_"Colonel Bane kept the Spartan safe, sir."  
_"...Understood."_  
_

The three pelicans, along with the remaining Longswords (and the Banshees that were still giving chase), continued on; and as they did so, one Okahara Ryouta was speaking to Douglas from his seat next to a device that he and his two remaining friends, Yuki and Shinobu, had carried onboard themselves. However, his thoughts were far from getting the Electromaster who was on the other side of the planet (and who strangely had the entire bed to herself) to use her power to send them home. To be honest, his thoughts weren't even about home; no, they were about something far more important. Something that even he would brave this deadly world for and risk his life for.


End file.
